A  HISTORY  OF 
THE  UNITED  STATES  NAVY 


VOLUME  I 


NEW  EDITION  OP 

A  History  of  the  United  States  Navy, 

From  1775  to  1898.  By  EDGAR  STANTON  MACLAY, 
A.  M.  With  Technical  Revision  by  Lieutenant  Roy 
C.  Smith,  U.  S.  N.  New  edition,  revised  and  en 
larged,  with  new  chapters  and  several  new  Illustra 
tions.  In  two  volumes,  8vo.  Per  vol.,  cloth,  $3.50. 


This  work  has  been  adopted  as  the  Text-Book  upon  United  States  Naval 
History  in  the  U.  S.  Naval  Academy  at  Annapolis. 

"It  fills  a  place  which  has  almost  escaped  the  attention  of  histo 
rians.  Mr.  Maclay's  work  shows  on  every  page  the  minute  care 
with  which  he  worked  up  his  theme.  His  style  is  precise  and  clear." 
— New  York  Tribune. 

"  A  thrilling  romance  which  will  interest  every  mind  that  is  fed  by 
tales  of  heroism,  and  will  be  read  with  patriotic  pride  by  every  true 
American." — Chicago  Evening  Post, 

"  The  author  writes  as  one  who  has  digged  deep  before  he  began 
to  write  at  all.  He  thus  appears  as  a  master  of  his  material.  This 
book  inspires  immediate  confidence  as  well  as  interest." — New  York 
Times, 

"A  systematic  and  brilliant  history  ...  A  splendid  tribute  to  the 
genius  of  the  American  seaman." — Philadelphia  Ledger. 

"  A  most  brilliant  history.  ...  A  splendid  record  admirably 
written." — The  Churchman. 

"One  continuous  story  of  pluck,  perseverance,  and  skill.  .  .  .  The 
landsman  no  less  than  the  sailer  can  appreciate  both  the  method  and 
material."—  Journal  of  the  Military  Service  Institute. 

"A  delightful  style.  Mr.  Maclay  not  only  serves  up  old  facts  in  a 
new  way,  but  he  gives  us  new  facts." — Army  and  Navy  Journal. 

"  Must  inevitably  rank  as  standard.  To  the  completion  of  any 
library  it  is  indispensable." — Neiv  York  Marine  Journal. 

"Deserves  to  be  read  by  all  who  are  interested  in  naval  progress 
and  in  gallant  deeds." — London  Saturday  Review. 


The  Private  Journal  of  William  Maclay, 

United  States  Senator  from  Pennsylvania,  1789-1791, 
with  Portrait  from  Original  Miniature.  Edited  by 
EDGAR  S.  MACLAY,  A.  M.  Large  8vo.  Cloth,  $2.25. 


D.  APPLETON  AND  COMPANY,  NEW  YORK. 


"3     c  '53 
I     1    §P 


A   HISTORY  OF  THE 

UNITED  STATES  NAVY 

FROM   1775  TO   1898 


BY 

EDGAR  STANTON   MACLAY,   A.  M 

AUTHOR    OF    REMINISCENCES    OF    THE    OLD    NAVY 
EDITOR    OF    THE    JOURNAL    OF    WILLIAM    MACLAY 


WITH   TECHNICAL  REVISION   BY 
LIEUTENANT   ROY   C.    SMITH,   U.  S.  N. 


IN    TWO    VOLUMES 
VOL.    I 

ILLUSTRATED 


NEW    EDITION,    REVISED    AND   ENLARGED 


NEW   YORK 
D.    APPLETON    AND    COMPANY 


COPYRIGHT,  1893,  1898. 
BY  D.   APPLETON  AND  COMPANY. 


ELECTRO-TYPED  AND  PRINTED 
AT  THE  APPLETON  PRESS,  U.  S.  A. 


I   DEDICATE   THIS   WORK   TO   MY   FATHER, 

THE  REV.   ROBERT  SAMUEL  MACLAY,   D.  D., 

IN   RECOGNITION  OF   THE 

LONG   YEARS  OF   PATIENT   TOIL  AND  SELF-DENIAL   HE   IMPOSED  UPON  HIMSELF 
IN  ORDER   THAT   I   MIGHT   RECEIVE   A    UNIVERSITY   EDUCATION. 

HE   WAS   THE    PIONEER   MISSIONARY   OF   THE 

METHODIST   EPISCOPAL   CHURCH   IN   CHINA  AND  JAPAN, 

LABORING    IN    THE    FORMER    COUNTRY    TWENTY-SIX    YEARS, 

AND    IN   THE    LATTER    FIFTEEN   YEARS. 

SINCE   1888   HE   HAS   BEEN   PRESIDENT   OF   MACLAY  THEOLOGICAL   SEMINARY, 
IN   SAN   FERNANDO,   LOS   ANGELES   COUNTY,    CALIFORNIA. 


To  One  Maclay: 


The  Kept  Historian  of  the  Bureau 
Naval  Promotion  and  Villificaiioi. 


By  Ambrose  Bierce. 

Maclay,  you're  a  great  Admiral!     'Tis  true 

You  ne'er  commanded  in  an  ocean  fight, 
You  ne'er  was  on  a  ship  at  all,  and  you 

Would  not  know  stem  from  stern;  but  then — you  write! 

That's  to  possess  a  rank  and  power  quite 
As  great  as  any  hero  'neath  the  heavens, 
And  nearly  half  as  great  as  Boh-up  Evans. 

Bob-up's  a  hero,  and  a  scribe  as  well, 

And  therefore  doubly  great;  while  men  like  Schley, 
Who  merely  steam  about  and  fight,  compel 
Inferior  admiration.     The   supply 
Of  such  is  plentiful,  but  still  we  sigh 
In  vain  for  heroes  who  are  also  writers- 
Historians   terrible!— and  peaceful  fighters. 

"The  man  behind  the  gun"  has  ample  fame: 

We  all  affirm  his  glory,  night  and  day. 
Tis  true  we  never  speak,  nor  know,  his  name. 

But  that's  because  he  doesn't  write  and  say 

Twa/s  his  arm  won  the  victory!     Maclay, 
Would  your  name  be  unknown  to  us,  I  wonder. 
If  you'd  a  gun   to  get  behind  or  under? 

With  Sampson.  Evans,   Crowninshield   (ye  gods! 

That  name  is  longer  than  'twill  last)  we  ought 
To   feel   secure  against  the   greatest   odds 

That  eny  naval   power  ever  fought. 

Historians   can   be   so   cheaply  bought 
That  sea  fights  may   be  won  in   Central  Kansas 
And  one  mule  slain  by  thousands  in  Matanzas. 

You  say  that  Schley's  "a  coward  and  a  liar," 
But  what  are  you,  who  say  so  when  he's  far 

Beyond   the   world's   convexity — scarce  nigher 
To  yours  than  to  the  inaccessible  star 
That  shines  at  midnight  o'er  his  tallest  spar? 

What  were   that  star  if  angrily  it  glowered, 

And  with  a  bully's  courage  called  him  coward? 

Aa  to  veracity,  you  say  he  tried 

Right  hard  the  Spanish  warships  to  avoid— 
The  very  ships,   unless  all  men  have  lied, 

That   he — by   accident  perhaps — destroyed. 

Your  brains  might  be  consistently  employed 
In  fortifying  your  account  by  writing 
That  stubborn  old  Cervora  still  is  fighting. 

Maclny,  you  are  a  master  of  the  pen! 
So  say  all  members  of  the  Naval  Ring.         "    "J**     J          "2/s 

At  "social  functios"  of  "the  upper  ten"  *J  4V*i4    %/W 

Your  praises  Sampeon  ever  more  will  sing  «* 

(He's  a  tea-going  mariner)   and  swing  /*i  /V  I 

The  censer  for  your  talent.     On  reflection.  *  ^"t  w  I 

That's  Just  a  kind  of  moral  disinfection. 

You  an  historian!     If  we  depend 

On  you  to  chronicle  our  every  deed 
In  peace  or  war,  why,  faith!    there's  just  an  enfl 

To   all    activity — our   only   creed 

Is  Lethargy,  and  death  our  dearest  need.  ,  , 

Maclay,  you've  spoken  and  Nirvana's  dawning! 

YrmrHPlf    thft    nnlv    tnari    that    Ireono    t\r>    •  »»•»**>(.... 


INTRODUCTION    TO   THE    NEW  EDITION. 


IN  the  introduction  to  the  first  edition  of  this  work 
the  author  said  that  he  "  will  gladly  receive  informa 
tion  bearing  on  our  navy  from  any  reliable  source,  in 
order  that  it  may  be  incorporated  in  future  editions." 
This  invitation  has  been  responded  to  generously,  so 
that  with  these  additional  details  it  is  believed  that 
this  new  and  substantially  enlarged  edition  is  a  com 
plete  narrative  of  our  navy's  career  from  the  earliest 
records  down  to  the  intervention  of  the  United  States 
between  Spain  and  Cuba. 

Some  of  the  most  important  additions  are  the  chap 
ters  Cruising  after  Slavers,  Attack  on  the  Wyoming, 
and  Sea  Power  in  the  Civil  War.  Some  of  the  other 
material  incorporated  is  an  account  of  Commander  (now 
Commodore)  Schley's  arctic  relief  expedition,  the  sequel 
to  the  sinking  of  the  Monitor,  a  fuller  account  of  the 
Apia  disaster,  the  last  appearance  of  the  Merrimac  in 
Hampton  Roads,  from  material  prepared  for  the  author 
by  Rear-Admiral  Thomas  Stowell  Phelps,  the  latest 
developments  in  gun  and  ship  building,  an  outline  of 
the  formation  and  develoi)ment  of  our  marine,  medical 
and  pay  departments,  an  explanation  of  the  Cuban  com 
plications,  an  account  of  the  Maine  disaster  and  our 
relations  with  Spain,  and  a  description  of  the  equip 
ment  and  mobilization  of  the  navy  in  the  winter  and 
spring  of  1898  down  to  the  beginning  of  war  with  Spain 
on  April  21st.  There  are  several  new  and  typical  pic 
tures  of  vessels  likely  to  be  prominent  in  our  naval 
operations. 


vi  INTRODUCTION  TO  THE  NEW  EDITION. 

Some  interesting  additions  also  have  been  made  to 
the  account  of  the  Bonhomme  Richard- Serapis  iight, 
to  the  action  between  the  Constitution  and  Java,  to 
the  cruise  of  the  Essex,  and  to  the  torpedo  warfare  in 
the  civil  war,  while  the  account  of  the  tragedy  in  the 
Somers  has  been  enlarged  to  several  pages.  Some  of 
the  most  important  services  performed  by  the  supply 
steamers  Rhode  Island  and  Connecticut  and  the  sloop- 
of-war  Jamestown  have  been  noted.  The  list  of  ships 
has  been  revised  and  brought  down  to  date,  while  the 
latest  developments  in  naval  warfare  are  recorded.  The 
arrangement  of  chapters  has  been  altered  so  as  to  end 
the  War  of  1812  with  Volume  I.  The  number  of  pages 
in  each  volume  has  been  greatly  increased. 

It  will  be  necessary  to  explain  why  some  of  the  ma 
terial  offered  does  not  appear  in  this  new  work.  It  has 
always  been  the  author's  intention  to  devote  a  separate 
volume  to  the  story  of  our  privateers.  This  seems 
appropriate,  not  only  because  they  formed  a  distinct 
class  of  warships,  but  because  their  services  were  of 
so  great  national  importance  and  their  actions  in  so 
many  cases  were  of  such  remarkable  brilliancy  and 
attended  with  such  "astounding  audacity."  For  this 
reason  the  mass  of  exceedingly  valuable  and  interest 
ing  material  placed  before  the  author  by  the  descend 
ants  of  our  daring  privateersmen  does  not  appear  in 
the  history  of  the  navy  proper,  but  is  reserved  for  a 
volume  which  will  be  uniform  with  the  "  History  of 
the  Navy,"  but  wrill  be  published  separately. 

In  the  preparation  of  the  final  chapters  of  the  War 
of  1812  the  author  desires  to  acknowledge  his  obliga 
tions  to  William  J.  Kyle,  of  Providence,  R.  I.;  to 
Robert  H.  Hope,  of  Montreal,  grandnephew  of  Captain 
Hope,  who  was  first  lieutenant  in  the  British  38-gun 
frigate  Macedonian  when  she  fought  the  United 
States ;  to  Richard  Watson  Gilder  for  interesting  de 
tails  of  the  last  cruise  of  the  Constitution  in  the  War 
of  1812  ;  to  Theodore  Roosevelt,  author  of  The  Naval 


INTRODUCTION  TO  THE  NEW  EDITION.  vii 

War  of  1812  ;  to  H.  Y.  Powell,  of  London  ;  to  Judge 
William  W.  Carruth,  of  Boston  ;  to  Oliver  Ormsby 
Page,  of  Allegheny,  Pa.,  a  relative  of  Captain  Benjamin 
Page,  U.  S.  N.;  to  Lieutenant-Commander  William 
Bainbridge-Hoif,  U.  S.  K;  to  Samuel  C.  Clarke,  of 
Marietta,  Ga.;  and  to  Mrs.  Laura  W.  A.  Cook,  of 
Chicago,  daughter  of  Captain  Joel  Abbot,  U.  S.  N. 
In  that  part  of  the  history  extending  from  1815  to 
1860  the  author  is  indebted  to  Joseph  A.  McCreery,  of 
New  Jersey,  for  the  unpublished  private  journal  of 
one  of  the  officers  who  was  in  the  frigate  Potomac 
in  the  expedition  against  the  Qualla  Battoons  in 
1832  ;  to  William  Elliot  Griffis,  author  of  the  Life 
of  Matthew  Calbraith  Perry  ;  to  Rear- Admiral  Henry 
Walke,  for  interesting  data  on  the  Mexican  War ; 
to  Edward  Trenchard,  son  of  Rear-Admiral  Stephen 
Decatur  Trenchard,  for  the  private  papers  and  un 
published  journal  of  his  father  bearing  on  the  inter 
esting  incidents  in  the  China  Sea  in  1856-'59,  and  also 
on  the  civil  war  ;  to  Franklin  Eyre,  of  Philadelphia, 
great-grandson  of  the  builder  of  the  first  United  States 
war  vessel ;  to  Assistant  -  Engineer  Henry  Eckford 
Rhoades,  who  was  in  the  United  States  war  steamer 
Juniata  in  her  Polaris  -search  expedition  ;  and  to  S. 
C.  Bigelow,  of  San  Francisco. 

In  the  chapters  bearing  on  the  civil  war  the  author 
has  received  great  assistance  from  Rear- Admiral  James 
Edward  Jouett  and  Rear-Admiral  Thomas  Holdup 
Stevens.  Both  of  these  officers  have  contributed  many 
items  of  interest  on  the  parts  they  took  in  the  great 
strife,  and  have  given  their  personal  experiences  in 
the  famous  battle  of  Mobile  Bay.  To  Rear-Admiral 
Thomas  Stowell  Phelps  the  author  is  indebted  for  val 
uable  material  on  the  early  naval  operations  in  the 
Potomac,  the  surveying  of  Hatteras  Inlet,  and  incidents 
attendant  and  consequent  to  the  appearance  of  the 
Merr-imac  in  Hampton  Roads.  Rear- Admiral  Henry 
Walke  has  kindly  read  and  corrected  chapters  on  the 


viii  INTRODUCTION  TO  THE  NEW  EDITION. 

naval  operations  of  the  Western  rivers,  in  which  he 
participated,  besides  contributing  many  items  of  gen 
eral  interest  on  the  navy.  The  invaluable  assistance 
of  Miss  Susan  G.  Perkins,  in  laying  before  the  author 
the  letters  and  private  papers  of  her  brother,  Captain 
George  Hamilton  Perkins,  bearing  on  the  part  he  took 
in  the  battles  of  New  Orleans  and  Mobile  Bay,  is  ac 
knowledged.  To  Ensign  Thomas  Tingey  Craven,  grand 
son  of  Rear- Admiral  Craven,  the  author  is  indebted  for 
items  concerning  the  admiral  ;  to  Madeline  Yinton 
Dahlgren,  widow  of  Rear-Admiral  Dahlgren,  for  the 
private  journal  and  letters  written  by  the  admiral  dur 
ing  the  civil  war,  and  especially  while  he  was  in  com 
mand  of  the  National  lleet  off  Charleston;  to  Judge 
Charles  Cowley,  of  Lowell,  Mass.,  author  of  Leaves 
from  the  Diary  of  a  Lawyer  Afloat  and  Ashore  ;  to 
Frank  W.  Hackett,  of  Washington ;  and  to  Rear- 
Admiral  John  Henry  Russell,  for  interesting  material 
bearing  on  the  civil  war.  The  author  also  desires  to 
acknowledge  the  assistance  he  has  received  from  Lieu 
tenant-Commander  Pendleton  Gaines  Watmough,  Rear- 
Ad  miral  James  Augustin  Greer,  Rear- Admiral  George 
Eugene  Belknap,  Rear- Ad  miral  Edmund  R.  Colhoun, 
Rear- Admiral  Alexander  Colden  Rhind,  Rear- Admiral 
John  G.  Walker,  Commander  Charles  S.  Sperry,  Lieu 
tenant-Commander  Charles  Belknap,  Lieutenant-Com 
mander  Franklin  Hanford,  and  from  the  able  works  of 
Rear- Admiral  Daniel  Ammen,  Captain  Alfred  Thayer 
Ma  ban  and  Prof.  James  Russell  Soley  on  the  civil  war. 
In  the  preparation  of  this  enlarged  edition  the  au 
thor  acknowledges  his  obligations  to  an  advance  chap 
ter  of  Captain  Alfred  Thayer  Mahan's  "History  of  the 
Royal  Navy  of  Great  Britain  "  ;  to  Mrs.  D.  McDougal 
Van  Yoorhis  (daughter  of  Rear-Admiral  David  Stock 
ton  McDougal,  U.  S.  N.)  for  valuable  details  of  Mc- 
DougaPs  gallant  fight  against  the  Japanese  batteries  in 
the  Straits  of  Shimonoseki ;  to  John  C.  Crowninshield 
for  interest-ing  items  about  the  prominent  part  his  an- 


INTRODUCTION  TO  THE  NEW  EDITION.  ix 

cestors  took  in  the  formation  of  the  navy  ;  to  the  late 
Pay  Director  Augustus  H.  Gilman,  U.  S.  N.,  for  his 
personal  account  of  various  incidents  in  the  civil  war  ; 
to  William  Elliot  Griffis  for  an  account  of  the  Wyo 
ming  affair  ;  to  Mrs.  Truxtun  Craven  Barnard  ;  to  Com 
modore  Winfield  Scott  Schley,  U.  S.  N.,  commanding 
the  "  Fly  ing  Squadron,"  for  material  bearing  on  the 
Greeley  relief  expedition;  to  Lieutenant-Commander 
James  D.  Jerrold  Kelley's  "History  of  the  Navy";  to 
Commander  Willard  H.  Brownson,  U.  S.  N.  ;  to  Hun 
ter  Davidson,  who  managed  the  Confederate  torpedo 
bureau  during  the  civil  war,  for  his  personal  account 
of  those  operations ;  to  Medical  Director  George  W. 
Woods,  U.  S.  K,  Surgeon-General  William  K.  Van 
Reypen,  U.  S.  IN".,  and  Surgeon  James  D.  Gate  wood, 
U.  S.  IS".,  for  interesting  data  bearing  on  the  rise  and 
development  of  the  medical  department  of  our  navy ; 
to  the  Rev.  David  H.  Tribou,  chaplain  U.  S.  K ;  to  Pay 
Director  Albert  S.  Kenny,  U.  S.  IS". ;  to  Chief  Engineer 
Edward  Farmer,  U.  S.  N. ;  and  to  Colonel  Charles  Hey- 
wood,  colonel  commandant  of  the  Marine  Corps,  all  of 
whom  have  contributed  interesting  data  bearing  on 
their  several  departments.  E  S  M 

OLD  FIELD  POINT, 
SETAUKET,  LONG  ISLAND,  N.  Y.f 
May,  1898. 


INTRODUCTION. 


IT  would  be  difficult  to  exaggerate  the  value  of  the 
services  that  have  been  rendered  by  the  United  States 
navy.  The  Continental  cruisers  and  privateers — the 
latter  corresponding  to  the  militia  on  land — during  the 
War  of  the  Revolution  captured  about  eight  hundred 
vessels  from  the  enemy,  and,  making  the  moderate 
allowance  of  fifteen  men  to  each  craft,  we  have  a  total 
of  twelve  thousand  prisoners  taken  on  the  high  seas  by 
a  maritime  force  which  at  no  time  consisted  of  more 
than  five  thousand  men.  About  five  hundred  of  these 
prisoners  were  soldiers  of  some  of  the  best  English  regi 
ments,  and  had  they  been  captured  on  land  the  inci 
dent  would  have  occupied  many  pages  in  our  histories. 
It  was  by  means  of  our  maritime  forces  that  the  Ameri 
can  armies  were  supplied  with  the  munitions  of  war 
during  that  terrible  struggle.  In  our  two  years  of  naval 
war  with  France  the  work  was  all  done  by  the  navy. 
About  eighty  vessels,  mostly  privateers,  carrying  over 
three  thousand  men,  were  captured  from  the  enemy. 
Again,  the  wars  with  the  States  of  Barbary  were  brought 
to  a  highly  honorable  termination  by  the  unaided  efforts 
of  the  navy,  the  United  States  securing  privileges  that 
had  been  denied  to  European  powers. 

The  naval  War  of  1812  did  more  to  humble  the  pride 
of  Great  Britain  than  any  other  contest.  The  Revo 
lution  was  a  struggle  for  independence  on  land,  but 
it  required  a  second  fight  to  secure  our  "  inalienable 
rights  "  on  the  high  seas.  Over  fifteen  hundred  vessels 
were  taken  from  the  English,  and  more  than  twenty 

Cad) 


xii  INTRODUCTION. 

thousand  of  their  seamen  were  made  prisoners.  It  was 
by  means  of  her  marine  that  England  had  attained  her 
greatness,  and  it  was  on  her  naval  supremacy  that  she 
depended  for  safety  and  prosperity.  "Our  maritime 
superiority,"  said  the  London  Star,  "is  in  fact  apart 
of  the  law  of  nations.  It  is  the  right  of  conquerors, 
since  men  associated  together  in  civilization,  to  give 
laws  to  the  conquered."  At  the  outbreak  of  the  War 
of  1812  the  British  navy  was  in  the  zenith  of  its  glory. 
It  had  matched  its  strength  against  the  combined 
navies  of  the  greatest  maritime  nations  of  the  world, 
and  had  come  off  a  victor.  In  two  hundred  actions 
between  single  ships  it  had  been  defeated  but  five 
times,  and  on  those  occasions  the  British  ship  is  ad 
mitted  to  have  been  of  inferior  force.  But  in  two 
and  a  half  years  of  naval  war  with  the  United  States 
British  commerce  was  almost  annihilated,  and  in  eight 
een  naval  engagements  the  royal  navy  sustained  fif 
teen  defeats ;  and  this  after  the  London  Statesman  of 
June  10,  1812,  had  said,  "America  certainly  can  not 
pretend  to  wage  war  with  us  ;  she  has  no  navy  to  do 
it  with." 

'The  most  serious  aspect  of  this  war,  however,  was 
not  the  number  of  ships  engaged,  but  the  astonishing 
disparity  in  losses.  In  the  battle  of  Trafalgar  Nelson's 
100-gun  flagship,  the  Victory,  after  five  hours  of  fight 
ing,  sustained  a  loss  of  fifty-seven  killed  and  one  hun 
dred  and  two  wounded  out  of  a  complement  of  about 
six  hundred  men  and  boys.  In  the  action  between  the 
44-gun  frigate  Constitution  and  the  38-gun  frigate  Java, 
which  lasted  less  than  two  hours,  the  English  lost  sixty 
killed  and  one  hundred  and  one  wounded  out  of  a  com 
plement  of  four  hundred  and  twenty-six,  while  the 
Americans  had  only  nine  killed  and  twenty-five  wound 
ed.  In  the  battle  of  the  Nile,  in  which  there  were 
twelve  hours  of  hard  fighting,  the  74-gun  ship  of  the 
line  BelteropTion  sustained  the  greatest  loss  on  the 
British  side,  her  casualties  being  forty-nine  killed  and 


AMERICANS  CAUSE  GREAT  LOSSES  TO  THE  ENGLISH,  xiii 

one  hundred  and  forty-eight  wounded  out  of  a  comple 
ment  of  five  hundred  and  eighty-four.  In  the  action 
between  the  44-gun  frigate  United  States  and  the  38- 
gun  frigate  Macedonian,  which  lasted  an  hour  and  a 
half,  the  English  had  thirty-six  killed  and  sixty-eight 
wounded  out  of  a  complement  of  fewer  than  three  hun 
dred,  while  the  Americans  had  only  five  killed  and 
seven  wounded.  In  the  great  naval  engagement  off 
Camperdown  the  74-gun  ship  of  the  line  Monarch  sus 
tained  the  heaviest  losses  on  the  side  of  the  British. 
She  had  thirty-six  killed  and  one  hundred  wounded 
out  of  a  complement  of  five  hundred  and  ninety-three. 
In  the  action  between  the  18-gun  sloops  of  war  Wasp 
and  Reindeer,  which  lasted  only  nineteen  minutes,  the 
English  had  twenty-five  killed  and  forty-two  wounded. 
Next  to  the  Monarch,  the  64-gun  ship  of  the  line  Belli- 
queux  sustained  the  greatest  loss  in  the  Camperdown 
engagement,  her  casualties  being  twenty-five  killed  and 
seventy-eight  wounded  out  of  a  complement  of  four 
hundred  and  eighty-five.  In  the  action  between  the 
44-gun  frigate  Constitution  and  the  38-gun  frigate  Guer- 
riere,  which  lasted  only  forty  minutes,  the  English  lost 
fifteen  killed  and  sixty- three  wounded  out  of  a  comple 
ment  of  two  hundred  and  sixty- three.  The  third  Eng 
lish  vessel  at  Camperdown  in  point  of  casualties  was 
the  74-gun  ship  of  the  line  Powerful,  which  had  ten 
killed  and  seventy-eight  wounded  out  of  a  complement 
of  five  hundred  and  eighty-four.  In  the  action  between 
the  18-gun  sloops  of  war  Wasp  and  Frolic  the  English 
had  fifteen  killed  and  forty-seven  wounded  out  of  a 
complement  of  one  hundred  and  ten,  while  the  Wasp 
had  only  five  killed  and  five  wounded.  In  the  action 
between  the  18-gun  sloops  of  war  Hornet  and  Peacock, 
which  lasted  but  eleven  minutes,  the  English  had  five 
killed  and  thirty-three  wounded  out  of  a  complement 
of  one  hundred  and  thirty,  while  the  American  loss 
was  only  three  men  injured. 

It  will  be  seen  from  these  figures  that  the  naval  War 


xiv  INTRODUCTION. 

of  1812,  in  proportion  to  the  forces  engaged  and  the 
losses  sustained,  was  a  contest  of  far  greater  moment 
and  disastrous  consequences  to  Great  Britain  than  any 
in  which  she  had  been  engaged,  and  it  is  not  surprising 
that  it  "  spread  a  degree  of  gloom  over  London  that  was 
most  painful  to  observe."  The  London  Times  summed 
up  the  full  significance  of  these  actions,  when  it  heard 
of  the  loss  of  the  first  frigate,  in  the  following  words : 
"The  loss  of  a  single  frigate  by  us,  it  is  true,  is  but  a 
small  one  ;  when  viewed  as  a  part  of  the  British  navy 
it  is  almost  nothing;  yet  under  all  the  circumstances 
of  the  two  countries  to  which  the  vessels  belonged,  we 
know  not  any  calamity  of  twenty  times  its  amount  that 
might  have  been  attended  with  more  serious  conse 
quences  to  the  worsted  party."  That  the  "  Thunderer" 
was  conscious  of  the  increasing  gravity  of  the  war  is 
seen  when  it  heard  of  the  capture  of  the  second  British 
frigate,  and  exclaimed:  "In  the  name  of  God,  what 
was  done  with  this  immense  superiority  of  force  !  Oh, 
what  a  charm  is  hereby  dissolved !  The  land  spell  of 
the  French  is  broken  [alluding  to  Napoleon's  disastrous 
retreat  from  Moscow],  and  so  is  our  sea  spell ! "  In 
these  naval  disasters  intelligent  Englishmen  foresaw 
the  subversion  of  their  naval  supremacy,  and  they  well 
knew  that  if  that  were  lost  it  meant  the  reduction  of 
England  to  one  of  the  least  of  the  European  powers. 

Such  being  the  seriousness  of  the  subject  from  the 
English  standpoint,  we  can  readily  understand  why 
volume  after  volume  has  been  written  and  every  art  of 
figure- juggling  resorted  to  to  explain  away  these  de 
feats.  One  of  the  most  popular  methods  of  accounting 
for  the  British  naval  disasters  of  this  war  is  that  of 
comparing  the  ships  engaged  by  means  of  tonnage.  By 
this  method  English  writers  make  out  that  the  Ameri 
can  frigates  were  from  forty  to  fifty  per  cent  larger  than 
their  antagonists.  But  tonnage,  as  determined  in  those 
days,  by  no  means  gives  an  accurate  idea  of  the  force 
of  war  ships.  The  system  of  measuring  was  to  declare 


TONNAGE  NOT  A  FAIR  MEASUREMENT. 

that  half  of  the  breadth  of  the  vessel  at  the  broadest 
part  was  to  be  considered  the  depth.  Three  fifths  of 
the  breadth  was  to  be  deducted  from  the  length  of  the 
vessel,  the  remainder  to  be  multiplied  by  the  breadth 
and  the  product  to  be  multiplied  by  the  depth,  and 
this  result  was  to  be  divided  by  ninety-five.  This  was 
an  arbitrary  rule  adopted  for  the  purpose  of  ascertain 
ing  something  on  which  to  gauge  the  collection  of  rev 
enue,  and  was  designed  primarily  for  merchant  craft. 
Applied  to  such  vessels,  it  gave  a  tolerably  accurate 
idea  of  the  dimensions,  as  merchantmen  were  built  on 
the  same  general  lines.  But  when  applied  to  English 
and  American  built  frigates  the  formula  is  obviously 
unfair,  as  nearly  all  the  British  frigates  involved  in  the 
War  of  1812  were  "  full-built,"  the  deck  plans  bearing 
a  strong  resemblance  to  a  modern  canal  boat,  while  the 
American  frigates  were  constructed  on  much  finer  lines, 
their  deck  plans  showing  a  decided  taper  from  the 
broadest  part  of  the  deck  toward  both  the  bow  and  the 
stern.  The  deck  plan  of  the  British  frigate  showed  that 
the  extreme  breadth  of  the  deck  was  maintained  nearly 
the  whole  distance  between  the  bow  and  the  stern.  Be 
sides  this,  the  rake  of  the  stem  and  stern  posts  of  the 
American  frigate  was  greater  than  those  of  the  British 
frigates.  From  measurements  taken  at  the  custom 
house  in  Baltimore  in  1812  it  is  shown  that  a  merchant 
vessel  built  on  the  plan  of  the  Macedonian  registered 
three  hundred  tons,  and  was  able  to  carry  four  hundred 
hogsheads  of  tobacco,  while  a  ship  of  the  same  tonnage, 
but  built  more  on  the  lines  of  the  American  frigate, 
could  carry  only  one  hundred  hogsheads. 

But  even  if  the  two  vessels  were  built  on  the  same 
general  lines,  this  formula  is  eminently  elastic  in  the 
hands  of  persons  determined  on  arriving  at  agreeable 
figures  rather  than  the  truth.  An  increase  of  ten  feet 
over  all,  six  feet  in  beam  and  six  feet  in  hold,  would 
increase  the  apparent  tonnage  of  a  ship  (one  hundred 
and  seventy-six  feet  long  and  carrying  fifty-five  guns) 

2 


xvi  INTRODUCTION. 

fifty  per  cent,  yet  it  would  not  admit  of  more  than 
four  extra  guns.  Adding  ten  feet  to  a  frigate's  beam 
and  ten  feet  to  her  hold,  although  greatly  increasing 
her  tonnage,  would  not  admit  of  a  single  additional 
gun  in  her  armament.  The  American  44-gun  frigate 
of  the  War  of  1812  was  from  ten  to  fifteen  feet  longer 
than  the  British  38-gun  frigate,  but,  owing  to  the  rake 
of  the  stem  and  stern  posts  in  the  American  frigates, 
not  a  single  extra  gun  could  be  put  into  the  broadside, 
there  being  just  fifteen  ports  to  the  side  in  both  the 
American  and  the  British  ship.  When  the  United 
States  returned  to  port  with  her  prize,  the  Macedo 
nian,  both  ships  were  measured,  and  the  former  was 
found  to  be  ten  feet  longer  but  to  have  eight  inches  less 
beam  than  the  English  frigate.  Here  the  American  frig 
ate  apparently  has  ten  more  feet  of  deck,  yet  her  con 
structors  were  unable  to  get  a  single  gun  more  to  the 
broadside  on  the  gun  deck  than  the  Macedonian  had, 
both  ships  having  fifteen  ports  to  the  side. 

Another  point  that  English  writers  discuss  is  the 
heavy  metal  carried  in  the  American  frigates.  They 
rightly  declare  that  the  American  frigate  was  armed 
with  24-pounders  on  the  main  deck,  while  the  English 
ship  carried  only  18-pounders.  At  the  time  of  the  War 
of  1812  24-pounders  as  the  main  armament  of  frigates 
was  largely  experimental,  with  the  weight  of  experi 
ence  and  authority  against  their  use.  English  com 
manders  insisted  that  24-pounders  were  too  heavy,  and 
could  not  be  worked  as  effectually  as  18-pounders.  Ex 
perience  had  taught  them  that  18-pounders  were  the 
medium  weights  from  which  the  highest  possible  effi 
ciency  could  be  derived ;  and  when  24-pounders  were 
introduced  in  the  American  frigates  they  pronounced 
them  innovations,  contrary  to  all  established  rules,  and 
mirthfully  pictured  the  disasters  that  would  result  from 
the  experiment,  In  the  years  preceding  the  War  of 
1812  American  and  British  officers  frequently  exchanged 
visits,  so  that  the  latter  were  thoroughly  aware  of  the 


AMERICAN  FRIGATES  TOO  HEAVILY  ARMED.        xvii 

kind  of  guns  the  American  frigates  carried,  and  they 
frequently  criticised  the  24-pounders.  Captain  Garden, 
of  the  Macedonian,  on  more  than  one  occasion  met 
Captain  Decatur  in  the  United  States.  While  dining 
one  day  at  the  latter's  table  he  "  particularly  pointed 
out  the  inefficiency  of  the  24-pounders  on  the  main  deck 
of  the  United  States,  and  said  that  they  could  not  be 
handled  with  ease  and  rapidity  in  battle,  and  that  long 
18-pounders  would  do  as  much  execution  and  were  as 
heavy  as  experience  had  proved  that  a  frigate  ought  to 
carry."  * 

To  a  limited  extent  the  criticism  of  the  British  com 
manders  on  the  overweight  of  the  24-pounders  on  the 
main  deck  of  the  American  44-gun  frigates  was  well 
founded.  It  is  a  fact  that  our  three  frigates  of  this 
class  were  overweighted,  and  the  experiences  of  the 
first  battles  in  which  they  were  engaged  discovered  it 
to  their  commanders.  In  the  first  actions  of  the  war 
the  Constitution  carried  thirty  24-pounders  on  her  main 
deck,  or  fifty-five  guns  in  all,  with  a  total  weight  in 
shot  of  fourteen  hundred  and  one  pounds,  while  her 
opponent,  the  Guerriere,  carried  thirty  18-pounders,  or 
forty-nine  guns  in  all,  with  eleven  hundred  and  seventy- 
five  pounds  of  metal.  Before  the  close  of  the  war  the 
Constitution's  armament  was  reduced  to  fifty- one  guns, 
having  a  total  shot  weight  of  twelve  hundred  and 
eighty-seven  pounds.  These  two  figures — eleven  hun 
dred  and  seventy-five  and  twelve  hundred  and  eighty- 
seven — probably  represent  the  real  difference  in  the 
weight  of  metal  between  these  frigates.  The  Constitu 
tion,  with  her  armament  reduced  to  twelve  hundred  and 
eighty-seven  pounds,  captured  an  English  force  of  fifty- 
five  guns  with  a  total  shot  weight  of  fifteen  hundred 
and  eight  pounds,  and  with  about  one  third  of  the  loss 
and  injury  to  herself.  In  her  action  with  the  Mace 
donian  the  United  States  carried  fifty-four  guns  to  the 

1  Mackenzie's  Life  of  Decatur,  p.  157. 


xviii  INTRODUCTION. 

Englishman's  forty -nine,  but  on  returning  to  port  six 
of  the  United  States'  guns  were  landed,  as  it  was  found 
that  their  great  weight  caused  the  frigate  to  become 
hogged  or  broken-backed.  The  third  of  these  frigates, 
the  President,  also  reduced  the  number  of  her  guns  to 
fifty- two,  but  even  this  was  not  sufficient  to  prevent  her 
from  becoming  hogged,  and  undoubtedly  it  was  the 
cause  of  her  being  overtaken  by  a  British  squadron  in 
1815.1 

1  In  comparing  the  weight  of  metal  carried  in  American  ships  of  war 
with  that  in  English  ships  there  are  three  important  considerations  to  be 
kept  in  mind.  First,  the  actual  weight  of  American  shot  at  this  period 
was  considerably  below  its  nominal  value.  For  instance,  the  American  32- 
pound  shot  weighed  only  thirty  pounds,  and  sometimes  less,  and  the  24- 
pound  shot  weighed  but  twenty-two  and  a  half  pounds,  etc.  In  the  action 
between  the  Wasp  and  the  Avon  it  was  officially  reported  that  "  the  four  shot 
which  struck  the  Wasp  are  all  thirty-two  pounds  in  weight,  being  a  pound 
and  three  quarters  heavier  than  any  belonging  to  this  vessel."  As  the 
heaviest  32-pound  shot  in  the  Wasp  was  one  and  three  quarters  of  a  pound 
underweight,  then,  inasmuch  as  there  was  much  irregularity  in  the  weight 
of  American  shot,  there  must  have  been  many  32-pound  shot  in  the  Wasp 
of  even  greater  deficiency  in  weight.  Cooper  says :  "  In  consequence  of  the 
infancy  of  the  arts  in  America,  both  the  soldiers  and  seamen  have  had  to 
contend  with  their  enemies  .  .  .  under  the  disadvantage  of  possessing  in 
ferior  arms,  powder  and  even  shot.  .  .  .  Another  consequence  of  this  de 
fective  casting  was  a  diminution  in  weight  and  consequently  momentum. 
The  latter  fact  having  been  alluded  to  in  the  course  of  the  war,  the  writer 
personally  weighed  a  quantity  of  shot,  both  English  and  American,  and 
found  that  the  old  shot  used  in  the  beginning  of  the  War  of  1812  were 
comparatively  lighter  than  those  which  had  been  cast  at  a  later  day;  but 
in  no  instance  was  an  American  shot  even  then  found  to  be  of  full  weight. 
On  the  other  hand,  the  English  shot  were  uniformly  of  accurate  weight. 
Some  of  the  American  32-pound  shot  weighed  but  thirty  pounds.  .  .  .  The 
average  of  the  18-pound  shot  was  about  seventeen  pounds,  but  it  is  under 
stood,  as  this  examination  occurred  several  years  after  the  peace,  that  the 
shot  as  well  as  the  guns  were  materially  better  than  they  had  been  pre 
viously  to  and  during  the  war."  James  considers  that  "  it  is  not  worth 
inquiring  whether  or  not  this  alleged  trifling  variation  in  weight  between 
American  and  British  shot  does  exist."  To  those  familiar  with  James' 
method  of  delving  into  the  minutest  details  and  infinitesimal  figures 
which  would  in  any  way  diminish  the  American  victory,  this  "  not  worth 
inquiring "  will  seem  a  practical  concession  of  the  point.  These  various 
authorities  prove  not  only  that  American  shot  was  deficient  in  weight  but 
that  British  shot  was  uniformly  accurate  in  weight.  Theodore  Roosevelt, 


AMERICAN  POWDER  AND  SHOT  INFERIOR.  xix 

Another  favorite  method  of  excusing  the  British 
naval  disasters  of  the  War  of  1812  was  by  representing 
the  British  ships  as  being  old,  worn  out  and  rotten,  and 

in  his  Naval  War  of  1812,  has  found  that  on  an  average  the  American  shot 
was  about  seven  per  cent  below  its  nominal  weight,  so  that  in  the  compari 
son  of  all  metals  in  all  the  actions  of  this  war  this  amount  will  be  deducted 
from  the  American  metal. 

Second,  American  powder  and  cannon  were  of  inferior  quality.  The 
President,  while  chasing  the  Belvidera,  lost  sixteen  men  by  the  bursting 
of  a  bow  chaser  and  only  six  men  from  the  enemy's  fire.  In  many  other 
actions  in  this  war  similar  accidents  happened  to  American  cannon; 
and  even  in  the  action  of  the  new  Guerriere  with  the  Moorish  frigate 
off  the  coast  of  Africa,  in  1815,  several  of  the  American  crew  were  killed 
by  the  explosion  of  a  gun.  The  shot  themselves  were  of  such  poor  qual 
ity  that  they  frequently  broke  when  they  struck,  thus  losing  their  force. 
At  times  the  shot  flew  to  pieces  before  reaching  its  mark,  thus  falling 
against  the  sides  of  the  ship  with  no  more  effect  than  so  much  grape 
or  canister.  An  officer  of  the  Belvidera,  speaking  of  a  shot  fired  from 
the  President,  says:  "  This  shot,  being  of  bad  quality,  it  split  into  about 
fifty  pieces." 

Third,  the  Guerriere  and  the  Java  were  French-built  frigates.  It  will 
be  remembered  that  a  French  24-pound  shot  weighed  twenty-six  English 
pounds,  and  a  French  18-pound  shot  was  equal  to  nineteen  and  a  half  Eng 
lish  pounds.  To  show  that  these  ships,  beyond  a  reasonable  doubt,  carried 
their  French  armaments  and  shot  when  engaged  with  the  Constitution,  we 
have  the  following  evidence :  From  1780  to  1812  the  English  had  captured 
a  great  number  of  French  vessels  of  war  whose  armaments  aggregated  sev 
eral  thousand  cannon,  together  with  several  hundred  thousand  shot.  It  is 
not  reasonable  to  suppose  that  when  so  many  captured  French  vessels  of 
war  were  taken  into  the  English  navy  these  valuable  cannon  and  shot  were 
thrown  aside  for  old  iron.  On  the  contrary,  it  is  more  than  probable  that 
the  French  cannon  were  retained  in  the  ships  that  had  been  built  expressly 
to  receive  them.  It  is  still  more  probable  that  these  captured  French  ships 
were  supplied  solely  with  captured  French  shot,  for  a  13-pound  shot 
(French  12)  was  not  cast  to  fit  a  12-pound  muzzle,  nor  was  a  26-pound 
shot  cast  to  fit  a  24-pound  muzzle.  Although  it  is  possible  to  fire  a  12- 
pound  shot  from  a  13-pound  bore  and  a  24-pound  shot  from  a  26-pound 
bore,  it  is  not  to  be  presumed  that  the  Lords  of  the  Admiralty  supplied 
their  frigates  mounting  26-pound  cannon  with  24-pound  shot,  or  13- 
pound  cannon  with  12-pound  shot,  when  they  had  an  enormous  quantity 
of  26-pound  shot  and  13-pound  shot  cast  expressly  for  these  guns,  espe 
cially  when  they  could  not  use  this  shot  for  English  cannon.  We  have 
proof  that  the  Guerriere  carried  French  shot,  for  an  officer  of  the  Consti 
tution  actually  weighed  the  shot  of  both  ships,  and  found  that  the  Consti 
tution's  24-pound  shot  were  only  three  pounds  heavier  than  the  Guerriere' s 


XX  INTRODUCTION. 

their  crews  as  deficient  in  discipline  and  gunnery,  etc. 
As  a  matter  of  fact,  in  all  these  frigate  actions  the 
American  ship  was  older  than  the  English.      In  the 
Constitution- Java  and  the  United  States -Macedonian 
engagements  the  English  ships  were  "new  frigates," 
while  the  American  frigates  had  been  built  in  the  pre 
ceding  century.     Of  the  Guerriere  James  said  :   "  Her 
hull,  from  age  and  length  of  service,  was  scarcely  sea 
worthy,  and  such  was  the  general  decay  in  which  the 
Guerriere  at  that  time  was  that  had  the  frigate  gone 
into  Portsmouth  or  Plymouth,  she  would  in  all  proba 
bility  have  been  disarmed  and  broken  up."    Captain 
Dacres,  who  commanded  the  Guerriere,  had  a  different 
opinion  of  his  ship.     A  few  months  before  his  capture 
by  the  Constitution,  he  spoke  of  the  ship  in  the  highest 
terms,  saying  that  "she'd  take  an  antagonist  in  half  the 
time  the  Shannon  could  "  (see  page  359),  and  the  Shan 
non  was  one  of  the  best  frigates  in  the  British  service. 
A  few  weeks  before  meeting  the  Constitution  Captain 
Dacres  even  more  forcibly  expressed  his  confidence  in 
the  ability  of  his  ship  to  capture  her,  as  will  be  seen  in 
the  following  challenge,  which  he  wrote  on  the  register 
of  the  American  brig  John  Adams :  "Captain  Dacres, 
commander  of  his  Britannic  Majesty's  frigate  Guerriere, 
presents  his  compliments  to  Captain  Rodgers,  of  the 
United  States  frigate  President  [sister  ship  to  the  Con 
stitution},  and  will  be  very  happy  to  meet  him,  or  any 
other  American  frigate  of  equal  force  to  the  President, 

18-pounders,  and  that  there  was  nearly  the  same  difference  in  favor  of  the 
latter's  32s.  If  the  Guerriere 's  18s  were  English  18-pounders,  the  deficiency 
of  the  Constitution's  24-pounders  would  have  been  three  pounds,  or  nearly 
twice  as  much  as  it  was  ever  claimed  to  be.  How,  then,  can  the  discrep 
ancy  in  these  figures  be  accounted  for  unless  the  Guerriere's  shot  were 
French  ?  If  they  were,  everything  is  clear.  Her  18-pounders  in  English 
measurement,  which  was  the  scale  used  by  the  officer  in  question,  weighed 
nineteen  and  a  half  pounds.  The  Constitution's  24-pounders,  allowing 
seven  per  cent  for  under  weight,  were  about  twenty-two  and  a  half  pounds, 
and  thus  we  get  an  intelligible  "only  three  pounds  heavier  than  the 
riere's  18s." 


BRITISH  OFFICERS  VERSUS  BRITISH  WRITERS.      Xxi 

off  Sandy  Hook,  for  the  purpose  of  having  a  social  tete- 
a-tete."  That  Captain  Dacres  at  the  time  of  the  action 
had  not  changed  this  opinion,  is  seen  in  the  following : 
On  the  10th  of  August,  or  nine  days  before  this  en 
gagement,  the  Guerriere  captured  the  American  brig 
Betsey,  commanded  by  Mr.  Orne.  Mr.  Orne  was 
aboard  the  Guerriere  when  that  frigate  met  the  Consti 
tution,  and  says  :  "I  soon  saw  from  the  peculiarity  of 
her  [the  Constitution's]  sails,  and  from  her  general 
appearance,  that  she  was  without  doubt  an  American 
frigate,  and  communicated  the  same  to  Captain  Dacres. 
He  immediately  replied  that  he  thought  she  came 
down  too  boldly  for  an  American,  but  soon  after  added, 
4  the  better  he  behaves  the  more  honor  we  shall  gain 
by  taking  him.'"1  Even  after  the  action,  when  Cap 
tain  Dacres  and  his  officers  had  been  several  days  in 
the  Constitution,  thus  having  an  excellent  opportunity 
of  comparing  the  two  ships,  he  still  entertained  the 
same  views,  and  immediately  on  landing  wrote  that 
"the  loss  of  the  ship  is  to  be  ascribed  to  the  early  fall 
of  her  mizzenmast."  This  opinion  was  still  more  forci 
bly  stated  by  Captain  Dacres  several  months  afterward. 
In  his  defense  before  his  court-martial  he  says  :  "Not 
withstanding  the  unlucky  issue  of  this  affair,  such  con 
fidence  have  I  in  the  exertions  of  the  officers  and  men 
who  belong  to  the  Guerriere,  and  I  am  so  well  aware 
that  the  success  of  my  opponent  was  owing  to  fortune, 
that  it  is  my  earnest  wish,  and  would  be  the  happiest 
moment  of  my  life,  to  be  once  more  opposed  to  the 
Constitution  with  them  under  my  command  in  a  frig 
ate  of  similar  force  to  the  Guerriere." 

But  we  have  eve"n  a  more  explicit  contradiction  of 
James'  statement  in  reference  to  the  unprepared  condi 
tion  of  the  British  frigates.  Twelve  years  after  the 
action  between  the  United  States  and  the  Macedonian, 
Captain  David  Hope,  who  served  in  the  Macedonian 


Coggeshall,  History  of  American  Privateers. 


xxii  INTRODUCTION. 

as  first  lieutenant,  wrote  to  his  former  commander, 
Captain  Garden : 

"  NEWTON,  BY  MUSSELBURGH,  June  22,  1824. 

"DEAR  SIR  :  I  have  just  received  your  letter  of  the 
10th  inst.,  in  which  you  mention  that  Mr.  James,  in 
his  naval  history,  has  stated  that  you  knew  the  ship's 
crew  of  the  Macedonian  was,  for  want  of  practice,  de 
ficient  in  gunnery.  That  statement  is  certainly  totally 
unfounded,  as  in  no  ship  in  the  British  service  could 
there  have  been  more  attention  paid  to  the  practical 
part  of  gunnery  than  was  done  by  you  to  the  crew  of 
the  Macedonian.  The  men  were  not  only  well  trained, 
but  the  greatest  attention  was  paid  to  every  depart 
ment  relating  to  the  guns.  There  was  general  exercise 
every  evening  before  sunset,  a  division  was  exercised 
through  the  day,  and  frequently  fired  at  a  mark.  In 
fact,  everything  was  done  to  make  the  ship  in  all  re 
spects  ready  to  meet  the  enemy.  As  to  the  state  of 
discipline  in  the  ship,  that  has  been  so  strongly  ex 
pressed  by  the  sentence  of  the  court-martial  [three 
years  before  this  letter  was  written],  where  the  evi 
dence  was  examined  upon  oath,  that  any  comment  of 
mine  would  be  unnecessary.  As  an  officer  who  has 
served  his  country  twenty-eight  years,  and  having 
been  frequently  in  action  with  the  enemy,  in  no  in 
stance  did  I  ever  see  men  more  devoted  to  the  honor 
and  service  of  their  country  than  the  ship's  company 
of  the  Macedonian.  DAVID  HOPE." 

Captain  George  Richard  Pechell,  under  date  of  May 
14,  1824,  wrote  to  Captain  Garden  to  the  same  effect. 

The  real  cause  of  the  British  naval  disasters  of  the 
War  of  1812  was  an  overweening  confidence  on  the 
part  of  the  British  officers.  English  commanders  for 
twenty  years  had  been  waging  an  easy  naval  warfare 
against  France,  whose  discipline  had  been  destroyed 
by  the  Revolution,  in  which  all  rank  (which  is  espe 
cially  necessary  in  ships  of  war)  was  obliterated.  So  far 


OVERCONPIDENCE  OF   THE  ENGLISH.  xxiii 

had  this  been  carried  that  the  captain  was  styled  "  citi 
zen  captain,"  and  the  enervating  influence  of  the  Revo 
lution  was  shown  in  the  lack  of  discipline  and  order 
in  French  frigates  of  this  period.  The  English  had 
also  been  fighting  against  Spaniards,  many  of  whom 
were  so  terrified  at  the  sound  of  guns  that  they  per 
mitted  themselves  to  be  shot  down  like  dogs  by  their 
own  officers  rather  than  ascend  the  rigging  or  perform 
their  duty.  The  English  sailor  was  spoiled  by  his  too 
easy  victories  over  the  French  and  Spaniards,  and  when 
he  came  to  match  his  strength  with  American  tars  he 
was  handicapped  by  an  exaggerated  notion  of  his  own 
prowess. 

Intelligent  and  well-informed  Englishmen  saw  this. 
The  Edinburgh  Review  for  April,  1840,  said:  "  The 
American  navy  was  then  in  its  infancy,  almost  untried 
against  civilized  enemies,  and  obnoxious  to  the  unmanly 
taunts  of  too  many  English  party  writers.  The  people 
of  the  United  States  felt  a  just  and  laudable  pride  when 
they  saw  their  marine  take  its  place  among  the  best  of 
Europe,  and  even  assert  its  claim  to  the  respect  of  the 
proudest  maritime  nation  in  the  world."  Hughes,  in 
his  History  of  England,  says  (vol.  xiv,  p.  18):  "It  is 
not  to  be  denied  that  the  American  frigates  were  ma 
noeuvred  with  such  skill  as  would  have  done  honor  to 
any  officers  of  the  British  navy."  Admiral  Nelson, 
after  critically  watching  the  manoeuvres  of  Captain 
Dale's  squadron  in  the  Mediterranean,  said,  "There  is 
in  the  handling  of  those  transatlantic  ships  a  nucleus 
of  trouble  for  the  navy  of  Great  Britain."  When  Na 
poleon,  in  1803,  parted  with  Louisiana,  he  prophetically 
said  :  "I  have  given  to  England  a  maritime  rival  that 
will  sooner  or  later  humble  her  pride." 

In  1812  naval  warfare  had  reached  that  stage  of 
development  when  brute  strength  and  animal  courage 
had  become  secondary  considerations.  Success  then 
depended  more  on  the  higher  discipline  of  the  men, 
better  training  at  the  guns,  the  intelligent  use  of  im- 


xxiv  INTRODUCTION. 

proved  weapons,  the  skillful  manipulation  of  the  sails 
and  the  thousand  and  one  little  improvements  in,  about 
and  all  over  a  ship  which  only  a  cultivated  intellect 
would  suggest.  These  improvements,  together  with 
the  indomitable  pluck  and  quick  perception  that  have 
ever  characterized  the  American  seaman,  overwhelmed 
the  British  navy  with  disaster  and  consternation.  This 
was  the  mainspring  of  our  brilliant  successes,  and  in 
this  particular  our  naval  officers  achieved  their  highest 
triumph. 

That  a  navy  having  such  a  brilliant  career  is  with 
out  a  full  and  continuous  record  of  its  achievements  is 
the  excuse  for  the  present  history.  While  we  have 
excellent  works  on  portions  of  our  navy's  career,  no 
continuous  narrative  from  1775  to  the  present  time  is  in 
existence.  Cooper's  history  of  the  navy  gives  a  con 
tinuous  although  meager  narrative  to  the  close  of  the 
Mexican  War,  but  it  has  been  out  of  print  for  nearly 
half  a  century. 

Since  beginning  this  work,  in  1885,  I  have  endeav 
ored  to  get  new  light  on  the  subject.  By  the  courtesy 
of  Admiral  Aube,  who  in  1886  was  the  French  Minister 
of  the  Marine  and  Colonies,  I  was  permitted  to  search 
the  archives  of  the  French  Navy  Department  in  Paris, 
and  there  I  discovered  documents  bearing  on  our 
troubles  with  the  Directory  in  1798-1801,  which  up  to 
that  time  had  not  been  published.  This  part  of  our 
national  history  has  been  a  blank  chapter,  but  the  offi 
cial  reports  of  the  French  commanders  concerned  in 
that  war  throw  a  flood  of  light  upon  it,  and  show  that 
it  was  one  of  the  most  interesting  and  glorious  wars  of 
our  country. 

To  Edouard  Chevalier,  captain  in  the  French  navy, 
and  to  M.  Leingy,  chief  of  the  Bureau  of  Archives  of 
the  Navy  Department  in  Paris,  I  am  greatly  indebted 
for  assistance  in  prosecuting  my  researches  in  Paris.  I 
must  also  acknowledge  my  obligations  to  Mr.  McLane, 
at  that  time  the  American  minister  to  France,  and  to 


BRITISH  OFFICIAL  DOCUMENTS  UNRELIABLE.       xxv 

Henry  Yignaud,  first  secretary  of  the  legation  in  Paris, 
for  courtesy  and  assistance  extended  to  me  in  my  his 
torical  researches.  I  desire  to  express  my  great  obli 
gations  to  Edward  Augustus  Bond,  in  1886  the  librarian 
of  the  British  Museum,  who  extended  to  me  every 
courtesy  during  the  eight  months  of  my  researches  in 
that  place.  I  desire  also  to  extend  my  thanks  to  Ros- 
siter  Johnson,  of  New  York,  for  valuable  suggestions 
in  the  preparation  of  this  work. 

While  I  was  in  England— 1885-'86— Sir  Provo  Wal- 
lis,  at  that  time  the  senior  admiral  of  the  royal  navy, 
who  served  in  the  Shannon  as  second  lieutenant  dur 
ing  her  memorable  action  with  the  Chesapeake,  June  1, 
1813,  favored  me  with  documents  of  great  value.  Some 
of  the  reports  of  the  British  commanders  concerned  in 
the  War  of  1812  were  garbled  before  the  public  were 
allowed  to  see  them,  in  order  to  mitigate  as  much  as 
possible  the  humiliation  of  British  defeat.  In  the 
documents  furnished  by  Sir  Provo  it  appears  that  not 
only  were  these  documents  garbled,  but  the  official 
report  of  Captain  Broke,  of  the  Shannon,  was  a 
forgery.  That  report,  as  published,  is  signed  ' '  P. 
B.  Y.  Broke,"  but  the  following  medical  certificate 
proves  that  Captain  Broke,  on  the  6th  of  June,  1813, 
and  for  six  days  before  and  for  several  weeks  after 
ward,  was  absolutely  unable  uto  dictate  or  write"  any 
account  of  the  action  :  "  These  are  to  certify  that  I;  the 
undersigned,  David  Rowlands,  M.  D.,  F.  R.  S.,  late 
surgeon  of  his  Majesty's  naval  hospital  at  Halifax,  in 
Nova  Scotia,  was  there  when  his  Majesty's  ship  the 
Shannon  arrived  with  her  prize,  the  American  frigate 
Chesapeake,  on  Sunday,  the  6th  of  June,  1813.  The 
former  was  commanded  by  the  present  Captain  Wallis, 
owing  to  the  dreadful  wound  which  Captain  Broke  had 
received  in  the  action  with  the  enemy  a  few  days  pre 
vious.  On  the  7th  of  June  I  was  requested  by  Alexan 
der  Jack,  the  surgeon  of  the  Shannon,  to  visit  Captain 
Broke,  confined  to  bed  at  the  commissioner's  house  in 


xxvi  INTRODUCTION. 

the  dockyard,  and  found  him  in  a  very  weak  state, 
with  an  extensive  saber  wound  on  the  side  of  the  head, 
the  brain  exposed  to  view  for  three  inches  or  more.  He 
was  unable  to  converse,  save  in  monosyllables,  and,  I 
am  sure,  totally  unable  to  dictate  or  write  an  account 
of  the  action  for  some  time  afterward,  owing  to  his 
severe  wounds,  loss  of  blood  and  the  shock  his  whole 
frame  must  have  experienced  by  the  blow  on  the  head. 
I  grant  this  certificate  to  Captain  Wallis,  being  called 
to  do  so  by  the  death  of  Mr.  Jack,  the  surgeon. — D. 
Rowlands,  M.  D."  It  appears,  then,  that  this  official 
report,  signed  "P.  B.  Y.  Broke,"  was  neither  written 
nor  dictated,  nor  authorized  by  that  commander,  but 
was  "a  concoction  of  Commissioner  Woodehouse  and 
Captains  Capel  and  Byron,"  men  who  saw  nothing  of 
the  action,  and  knew  nothing  of  it  until  the  arrival  of 
the  Shannon  and  her  prize  in  Halifax  six  days  after 
ward.  Even  had  these  gentlemen  shown  their  "con 
coction  "  to  the  then  commanding  officer  of  the  Shan 
non,  Lieutenant  Wallis,  before  sending  it  to  England, 
"I  would  have  corrected  the  errors."1 

The  published  official  report  of  Captain  Broke  con 
tains  this  episode:  "Mr.  Smyth,  who  commanded  in 
our  foretops,  stormed  the  enemy's  foretop  from  the 
fore  yardarm,  and  destroyed  all  the  Americans  remain 
ing  in  it."  This  "storming "is  flatly  contradicted  by 
Admiral  Wallis,  who  said:  "It  was  mere  invention, 
Smyth's  having  stormed  her  foretop,  but  he  did  board 
her  from  our  foreyard  and  slid  down  on  one  of  her 
backstays."  The  same  published  official  report  records : 
"The  lieutenants,  Johns  and  Law,  of  the  marines, 
bravely  boarded  at  the  head  of  their  respective  divi 
sions."  To  this  Sir  Provo  replies:  "Neither  did  the 
officers  of  the  marines  board,  for  when  I  took  command 
of  the  quarter-deck  I  found  them  there."  The  pub 
lished  official  report  goes  on  to  say  :  "Both  ships  came 

1  Admiral  Sir  Provo  Wallis. 


A  HISTORY  FOR  THE  PEOPLE.  xxvii 

out  of  the  action  in  the  most  beautiful  order,  their  rig 
ging  appearing  as  perfect  as  if  they  had  been  only  ex 
changing  a  salute."  Admiral  Wallis  thinks  otherwise. 
He  says:  "  It  was  equally  erroneous  to  say  that  the 
ships  came  out  of  action  as  perfect  as  if  they  had  been 
only  exchanging  a  salute,  the  fact  being  that  our  lower 
rigging  was  all  cut  through,  and  the  masts,  conse 
quently,  unsupported,  so  that  had  any  sea  been  on  they 
would  have  gone  over  the  side." 

I  made  every  effort  and  brought  all  possible  influ 
ence  to  bear  on  the  Lords  of  the  Admiralty  in  order  to 
get  permission  to  peruse  the  documents  bearing  on  the 
War  of  1812,  but  in  reply  to  my  application  I  was  in 
formed  that  "their  Lordships  express  to  you  their 
regrets  at  not  being  able  to  comply  with  this  request, 
as  the  regulations  in  force  preclude  all  public  inspec 
tion  of  admiralty  records  after  the  year  1800." 

Lieutenant  Roy  C.  Smith,  U.  S.  N.,  has  edited  my 
work  from  a  professional  standpoint,  but  I  have  not 
followed  all  his  suggestions  in  the  matter  of  technical 
phrases.  As  this  history  is  for  the  people,  I  have  in 
many  cases  changed  the  professional  terms  to  a  more 
"  landlubbeiiy  "  phraseology,  in  order  that  the  descrip 
tions  of  the  battles  may  be  as  clear  as  possible  to  the 
average  landsman.  The  diagrams  and  maps,  also  pre 
pared  for  this  work,  are  not  intended  for  a  technical 
work,  but  simply  to  convey  to  the  mind  of  the  reader 
in  the  plainest  possible  manner  the  movements  of  the 
ships  and  their  geographical  bearings. 

The  study  of  the  United  States  navy  is  far  from  be 
ing  completed,  and,  impressed  with  this  fact,  I  would 
gladly  receive  information  from  any  reliable  source 
bearing  on  our  navy,  in  order  that  it  may  be  incorpo 
rated  in  future  editions. 

E.  S.  M. 

NEW  YORK,  July,  1893. 


CONTENTS   OF  VOLUME   I. 


PART  FIRST. 

THE   WAR    OF  THE  REVOLUTION. 
CHAPTER  I. 

THE   UNITED   STATES   A   MARITIME   NATION. 

PAGE 

Conditions  of  colonial  existence  fostered  a  maritime  spirit— Colo 
nial  naval  expeditions — Rapid  growth  of  colonial  commerce  .  3-13 

CHAPTER  II. 

DEVELOPMENT   OB'   NAVAL   WARFARE. 

High  decks  lowered  by  the  introduction  of  cannon — Division  of  labor 
in  the  frigate  of  1800 — Order  and  ^discipline — Reduction  of  crews 
and  improved  sanitary  arrangements — Flogging — Superior  skill 
of  American  shipwrights  and  commanders — English  criticism  of 
American  improvements 14-33 

CHAPTER  III. 

OUTBREAK  OF  THE  REVOLUTION. 

First  naval  committees — Fitting  out  cruisers  and  appointing  officers 
— Pay — Establishment  of  a  marine  corps — Uniforms — Expedition 
to  New  Providence — Escape  of  the  Glasgow — Cruise  of  the  Lex 
ington — Cruises  of  the  Wasp,  the  Andrea  Doria,  the  Cabot  and 
the  Sachem — Paul  Jones  in  the  Providence — State  cruisers  Lee, 
Hancock,  Defense  and  franklin — Battle  of  Lake  Champlain — 
Heavy  losses  to  the  British  commerce 34-59 

CHAPTER  IV. 

THE  AMERICAN  NAVY  IN  EUROPE. 

Boldness  of  our  cruisers — Careers  of  the  Reprisal,  the  Lexington,  the 
Dolphin  and  the  Surprise — Remarkable  success  of  the  Revenge — 
Alarm  of  British  merchants — Cruise  of  the  Raleigh,  and  the  Al- 

(xxix) 


XXX  CONTENTS  OF  VOLUME  I. 

PAGE 

fred— Paul  Jones    appears    in    English    waters — Extraordinary 
cruise  of  the  Hanger 60-82 

CHAPTER  V. 

THE    STRUGGLE    IN   AMERICAN   WATERS. 

Heroic  attack  of  the  Randolph — Cruises  of  the  Cabot  and  the  Trum- 
bull — A  submarine  boat — Cruise  of  the  Hancock  and  the  Boston 
— The  American  flag — The  Providence  off  the  Bahamas — Chase 
of  the  Raleigh — The  United  States  and  British  navies  in  1778 — 
Mutiny  in  the  Alliance — Cruise  of  Captain  J.  B.  Hopkins'  squad 
ron — Valuable  captures  by  the  Queen  of  France,  the  Providence 
and  the  Ranger — Battle  between  the  Providence  and  the  Diligent 
— The  State  cruisers  Hazard  and  Protector — Disastrous  expedi 
tion  to  the  Penobscot — Cruises  of  the  Deane  (Hague]  and  the  Bos 
ton — Great  losses  to  British  commerce 83-102 

CHAPTER  VI. 

SECOND    CRUISE    OF    CAPTAIN   JOHN   PAUL   JONES. 

Difficulty  in  securing  a  squadron — The  ships  and  their  crews — Cap 
tain  Jones  puts  to  sea — A  collision — Returns  to  port — Vexatious 
delays — Sails  again — Desertions — Insubordination — On  the  west 
ern  coast  of  Scotland — Fruitless  attack  on  Leith — Off  Flambor- 
ough  Head 103-113 

CHAPTER  VII. 

THE   BONHOMME    RICHARD-SERAPIS   FIGHT. 

Excitement  caused  by  the  squadron — The  Baltic  fleet  sighted — Terri 
ble  battle  between  the  Bonhomme  Richard  and  the  Serapis — A 
critical  moment — A  ruse  de  guerre — Treachery  of  Landais — Dr. 
Franklin's  opinion — Return  to  France 114-136 

CHAPTER  VIII. 

CLOSING   NAVAL   ACTIONS   OF   THE   REVOLUTION. 

Cruel  treatment  of  American  prisoners — The  prison-ship  Jersey — The 
navy  reduced  to  a  few  vessels — Cruises  of  the  TrumbuU — Loss  of 
the  Saratoga — Captain  Jones  returns  to  the  United  States — The 
Alliance  captures  the  Atalanta  and  the  Trepassey — Loss  of  the 
Confederacy — Cruises  of  the  Deane  (Hague]  and  the  Alliance — 
The  Hyder  Ally-General  Monk  affair — The  Congress  and  the  Sav 
age—Captures  of  American  privateers — Summary  of  the  naval 
war  of  the  Revolution  ....  137-151 


CONTENTS  OF  VOLUME  I.  xxxi 

PART  SECOND. 

WARS    WITH  FRANCE  AND    TRIPOLI. 
CHAPTER  I. 

OUTBREAK   OF   THE   WAR    WITH    FRANCE. 

PAGE 

Neglect  of  the  navy — Trouble  with  Algiers — Opposition  to  a  navy — 
The  new  frigates — New  officers — Pay  and  rations — A  navy  de 
partment  created — Tribute  to  Algiers — Necessity  of  a  navy — War 
declared  against  France — The  Delaware  captures  the  Croyable — 
Chase  of  the  Montezuma  and  the  Norfolk — Lieutenant  Bain- 
bridge's  clever  deception — In  the  dungeons  at  Guadeloupe — 
Cruises  of  the  United  States,  the  Delaware  and  the  Herald — Out 
rage  on  the  Baltimore 155-172 

CHAPTER  II. 

A   VIGOROUS   NAVAL    WAR   AGAINST    FRANCE. 

A  race  off  St.  Domingo — Increasing  the  naval  force  in  the  West  In 
dies — The  United  States  sinks  the  Amour  de  la  Patrie — The 
squadron  off  Porto  Rico — The  British  cruiser  Surprise  boards  the 
Ganges  in  vain — Action  between  the  Constellation  and  the  In 
surgent — Official  report  of  Captain  Barreaut — Critical  condition  of 
the  prize  crew — Active  cruise  of  the  Norfolk — The  Congress 
chases  a  privateer— She  is  dismasted  in  a  gale — The  Essex  passes 
the  Cape  of  Good  Hope 173-192 

CHAPTER  III. 

THE   WAR   WITH    FRANCE    IN    1800. 

Night  action  between  the  Constellation  and  the  Vengeance — Official 
report  of  Captain  Pitot— Cutting  out  the  Sandwicli — Loss  of  the 
Insurgent — Remarkable  cruises  of  the  Enterprise  and  the  Experi 
ment — Plucky  defense  of  the  Louisa  off  Gibraltar — Picaroons  at 
tack  the  Boston — Extraordinary  action  between  the  Boston  and 
the  Berceau — Official  report  of  the  French  commander — Sum 
mary  of  the  French  war 193-213 

CHAPTER  IV. 

THE    BEGINNING   OF    THE    WAR   WITH    TRIPOLI. 

Judicious  reduction  of  the  navy — Tribute  to  the  States  of  Barbary — 
Insolence  of  those  regencies — England's  policy  in  regard  to  the 
pirates — The  George  Washington  at  Algiers  and  Constantino 
ple — The  Sultan  pleased  with  the  visit — Insolence  of  the  Dey.  214-227 


xxxii  CONTENTS  OF  VOLUME  I. 

CHAPTER  V. 

THE   WAR   IN   THE    MEDITERRANEAN. 

The  President,  the  Philadelphia,  the  Essex  and  the  Enterprise  sail 
for  the  Mediterranean — Tripolitan  cruisers  blockaded  at  Gibral 
tar — American  officers  insulted  at  Barcelona — Action  between  the 
Enterprise  and  the  Tripoli — the  President  runs  on  a  rock — 
Strange  conduct  of  Captain  McNiell — The  Constellation  attacks 
Tripolitan  gunboats — Duel  between  Joseph  Bainbridge  and  an 
Englishman  at  Malta — Fire  in  the  President — Boat  attack  on  the 
Tripolitans — A  Tripolitan  cruiser  blown  up — The  Constitution 
and  the  Maidstone  off  Gibraltar — The  Philadelphia  captures  the 
Meshboha—Loss  of  the  Philadelphia 228-250 

CHAPTER  VI. 

THE    FRIGATE    PHILADELPHIA. 

Serious  effects  of  the  loss  of  the  Philadelphia — Suggestions  for  her  re 
capture—Defenses  of  Tripoli — Preparations  to  recapture  the 
Philadelphia — Lieutenant  Decatur  volunteers — Capture  of  the 
Mastico — Volunteers — The  ketch  starts — A  week  of  great  hard 
ships — Entering  the  harbor — Boarding  the  Philadelphia — The  re 
treat — Loss  of  the  enemy 251-269 

CHAPTER  VII. 

BOMBARDMENT   OF    TRIPOLI. 

Vigorous  blockade  of  Tripoli — The  Siren  and  the  Argus  destroy  a 
felucca — Comparative  forces  before  Tripoli — Fierce  battle  of  gun 
boats — Four  bombardments  of  the  city — The  floating  mine  In 
trepid  270-293 

CHAPTER  VIII. 

CONCLUSION   OP   THE    WAR   WITH    TRIPOLI. 

The  experiences  of  the  American  prisoners  in  Tripoli — Attempts  to  es 
cape — Bombards  and  gunboats  cross  the  Atlantic — Mr.  Eaton  col 
lects  an  army  at  Alexandria — He  captures  Derne — Peace — The 
Bey  of  Tunis  hastily  retracts — Spanish  gunboats  fire  on  the 
President — Benefits  of  the  Mediterranean  war  ,  294-302 


I 


CONTENTS  OF  VOLUME  I.  xxxiii 


PART  THIRD. 

THE    WAR    OF  1812. 

* 

CHAPTER  I. 

THE    OUTBREAK.  pAGE 

The  Chesapeake- Leopard  affair — Outrages  by  British  cruisers — Case  of 
the  Leander — Increasing  the  navy — The  United  States  and  the 
Guerriere — Captain  Rodgers  puts  to  sea — The  President  and  the 
Little  Belt — War  declared — A  comparison  of  the  two  navies — Pay 
— Lack  of  confidence  in  the  navy  .  .  .  «  .  .  .  305-321 

CHAPTER  II. 

FIRST    NAVAL    EFFORTS   OF    1812. 

Captain  Rodgers  puts  to  sea — Chase  of  the  Belvidera — Cruise  of  the 
Essex — The  Essex  and  the  Minerva — The  Essex  and  the  Alert — 
The  Constitution  at  Portsmouth,  England — Loss  of  the  Nautilus 
— Celebrated  chase  of  the  Constitution  by  Captain  Broke's  squad 
ron  322-343 

CHAPTER  III. 

FIRST    FRIGATE    ACTION. 

The  Constitution  puts  to  sea  in  search  of  a  British  frigate — Sights  the 
Guerriere — At  close  quarters — Comparison  of  forces — Disasters 
on  land— Song,  "  The  Constitution  and  the  Guerriere  "  .  344-363 

CHAPTER  IV. 

SECOND    FRIGATE   ACTION. 

Sketch  of  the  Macedonian — She  searches  for  the  Essex,  but  meets  the 
United  States — Beautiful  handling  of  the  American  frigate— 
Dreadful  slaughter  in  the  Macedonian — The  two  commanders — 
Return  to  port — Our  tars  at  a  public  dinner  and  in  the  thea 
ter  364-394 

CHAPTER  V. 

THE    CONSTITUTION-JAVA    FIGHT. 

The  Java  sails  for  India — Her  officers — The  Constitution  and  the  Hor 
net  off  Bahia — Challenge  to  the  Bonne  Citoyenne — The  Java  meets 
the  Constitution — A  comparison  of  the  two  frigates — Death  of 
Lambert — How  the  news  of  the  naval  disasters  of  1812  was  re 
ceived  in  England 395-417 


xxxiv  CONTENTS  OF  VOLUME  I. 


CHAPTER  VI. 

FIRST   SLOOP   ACTIONS. 

The  Hornet  blockades  the  Bonne  Citoyenne  —  She  is  driven  off  by  the 
Montagu  —  Action  with  the  Peacock  —  Cruise  of  the  President, 
the  Congress  and  the  Argus  —  Boat  attacks  on  the  Constellation  — 
Loss  of  the  Vixen  and  the  Viper  —  Action  between  the  Wasp  and 
the  Frolic  ..........  418-435 

CHAPTER  VII. 

THE    CHESAPEAKE   AND   THE    SHANNON. 

The  Chesapeake  an  unlucky  ship  —  Long  preparation  of  the  Shannon  — 
Captain  Broke's  challenge  never  reached  Captain  Lawrence  —  The 
Chesapeake  sails  to  meet  the  Shannon  —  The  battle  of  June  1, 
1813  —  "  Don't  give  up  the  ship  "  —  Scenes  after  the  battle  —  Arrival 
of  the  two  ships  at  Halifax  —  Fate  of  the  Chesapeake  .  .  43G-468 

CHAPTER    VIII. 

OPERATIONS  ON  THE  GREAT  LAKES. 

Importance  of  the  Great  Lakes  —  Lieutenant  Woolsey's  heroic  defense 
of  the  Oneida  —  The  Julia  beats  off  the  Earl  of  Moira  and  the 
Duke  of  Gloucester  —  Captain  Chauncey  assumes  command  on  the 
Great  Lakes  —  Lieutenant  Elliott's  gallant  capture  of  the  Detroit 
and  the  Caledonia  —  The  Royal  George  chased  into  Kingston  — 
Attack  on  Toronto  —  Capture  of  Fort  George  —  Sir  George  Pre- 
vost's  attack  on  Sackett's  Harbor  —  The  Lady  of  the  Lake  cap 
tures  the  Lady  Murray  —  Manoeuvres  of  the  two  squadrons  —  The 
partial  engagement  of  September  28th  —  Increasing  the  naval  force 
on  Lake  Ontario  —  The  British  capture  Oswego  —  The  battle  of 
Sandy  Creek  —  Lieutenant  Gregory's  gallant  capture  of  the  Black 
Snake  —  Loss  of  the  Ohio  and  the  Somers—  Minor  actions  on  Lake 
Huron  and  Lake  Erie  ........  469-491 

• 

CHAPTER  IX. 

BATTLE   OF    LAKE    ERIE. 

Oliver  Hazard  Perry  ordered  to  Lake  Erie  —  Dismal  prospects  —  Build 
ing  a  squadron—  Getting  the  brigs  over  the  bar  —  Character  of  the 
crews  —  Comparative  forces  —  The  battle  at  long  range  —  At  great 
odds  —  Dreadful  slaughter  in  the  Lawrence  —  Perry  changes  his 
flag  to  the  Niagara  —  Surrender  of  the  British  —  Rewards  .  492-520 

CHAPTER  X. 

ACTIVE    NAVAL   WAR   OF    1813. 

Cruise  of  the  President  and  the  Congress  —  Capture  of  the  High  Flyer 
—  Gallant  defense  of  the  Asp  —  Action  between  the  Argus  and  the 


CONTENTS  OF  VOLUME  I.  Xxxv 

PAGE 

Pelican — Burial  of  Master-Commandant  Allen — The  gunboat 
theory — Gunboats  attack  the  Narcissus  and  Junon — Boat  attack 
on  Craney  Island — The  gunboats  under  Lieutenant  Angus  in 
the  Delaware — Exploit  of  Midshipman  Ten  Eyck  on  Long  Island 
Sound — Attempts  at  submarine  and  torpedo  warfare — The  Enter 
prise-Boxer  fight — Fourth  cruise  of  the  President  .  .  521-541 

CHAPTER  XL 

CAPTAIN  PORTER'S  CRUISE  IN  THE  PACIFIC. 

Building  the  Essex — Her  first  services — Sails  to  join  Captain  Bain- 
bridge's  squadron — Captures  the  Nocton — Arrives  off  Brazil — 
Captain  Porter  decides  to  cruise  in  the  Pacific — Dreadful  passage 
around  the  Horn — In  the  broad  Pacific — Capturing  the  British 
whalers  and  privateers — In  the  Gallapagos — Winter  quarters  at 
Nukahiva 542-560 

CHAPTER  XII. 

HEROIC    DEFENSE    OF    THE    ESSEX. 

Departure  from  Nukahiva — Arrival  at  Valparaiso — Unexpected  arri 
val  of  the  Phoe.be  and  the  Cherub — Captain  Porter  blockaded — 
The  Essex  blown  to  sea  and  loses  a  topmast — Anchors  off  a  neu 
tral  shore — Cautious  attack  of  the  English — A  heroic  defense 
against  overwhelming  odds — Terrible  losses — Return  to  the 
United  States— Fate  of  the  survivors  at  Nukahiva .  .  .  561-576 

CHAPTER  XIII. 

THE   NAVAL    WAR   IN    1814. 

Cruise  of  the  Adams — Her  loss — Attack  on  the  Alligator — Wreck  of  the 
Ferret — Chase  of  the  Nonesuch — Third  cruise  of  the  Constitution 
— Cruise  of  the  Enterprise  and  the  Rattlesnake — Capture  of  the 
Frolic — Captain  Joshua  Barney's  gunboats — Our  seamen  at  the 
defense  of  Washington— Capture  of  the  Surveyor — The  Peacock- 
Epervier  fight — Loss  of  the  Siren — The  Wasp  takes  the  Reindeer 
and  sinks  the  Avon— Her  fate  577-602 


CHAPTER  XIV. 

BATTLES  OF  LAKE  CHAMPLAIN  AND  LAKE  BORGNE. 

First  losses  on  Lake  Champlain — Building  a  new  squadron — Mac- 
donough's  splendid  strategy— Surrender  of  the  British— The 
New  Orleans  expedition — Heroic  fight  of  the  American  gun 
boats—Night  attack  on  the  English  camp— Battle  of  New 
Orleans ,  603-621 


xxxvi  CONTENTS  OF   VOLUME  I. 

CHAPTER   XV. 

THE   CONSTITUTION   ON   THE    AFRICAN    COAST. 

PAGE 

Old  Ironsides  escapes  from  Boston — Off  the  Rock  of  Lisbon — Cap 
tures  the  Cyane  and  the  Levant — At  Port  Praya — Blind  chase  of 
Sir  George  Collier's  squadron — Marvelous  escape  of  the  Constitu 
tion  from  Port  Praya— Sir  George  Collier's  blunders  .  .  622-639 

CHAPTER  XVI. 

THE   EAST    INDIA    SQUADRON. 

The  President  puts  to  sea — Chased  by  a  British  squadron — A  desper 
ate  battle — Captured  by  an  overwhelming  force — The  Hornet 
takes  the  Penguin — In  the  Indian  Ocean — A  three-day  chase — 
Wonderful  escape  of  the  Hornet — The  Peacock  takes  the  Nautilus 
— The  London  Times  on  the  naval  war 640-058 

APPENDIX. 
Reuben  James .     659-660 


LIST  OF  ILLUSTRATIONS. 


The   Bonhomme  Richard  and  the  Serapis   .         .        .     Frontispiece 

Map  showing  the  colonial  naval  expeditions 12 

The  Great  Harry 15 

The  Sovereign  of  the  Seas 16 

The  frigate  in  1800 17 

Flogging  (from  a  sketch  by  George  Cruikshank,  1818)         ...  25 

Scene  of  the  naval  operations  of  1776 40 

The  Royal  Savage,  showing  the  "  grand  Union  flag "  (from  an  old 

water  color) 52 

Map  of  the  battle  of  Lake  Champlain 54 

Map  of  Lake  Champlain 57 

European  waters 61 

Scene  of  Captain  Jones'  cruise  in  the  Irish  Sea 75 

The  Ranger  and  the  Drake Facing  80 

Scene  of  the  naval  operations  of  1777,  1778  and  1779  ....  84 

The  Randolph  and  the  Yarmouth Facing  85 

Map  of  the  second  cruise  of  Captain  Jones  in  British  waters       .        .  107 
Diagram  of  the  Bonhomme  Richard- Serapis  fight       .        .        .        .119 

The  prison  ship  Jersey Facing  138 

Scene  of  the  naval  operations  of  1780,  1781  and  1782  .        .        .        .141 

Scene  of  the  naval  operations  in  the  West  Indies  in  1799    .        .        .  174 

Diagram  of  the  Constellation- Insurgent  fight 179 

The  Constellation  raking  the  Insurgent        ....     Facing  181 

The  Constellation  and  the  Vengeance Facing  196 

Scene  of  the  naval  war  in  1800 199 

The  Boston  capturing  the  Berceau Facing  212 

City  of  Algiers 219 

The  Dardanelles 222 

Port  of  Alicante 226 

Scene  of  the  naval  operations  in  the  Mediterranean     ....  229 

Rock  of  Gibraltar 241 

Diagram  of  the  harbor  of  Tripoli 247 

Diagram  explaining  the  loss  of  the  Philadelphia         ....  258 

Boarding  the  Philadelphia Facing  264 

A  brass  cannon  captured  from  the  Tripolitans,  now  in  Annapolis      .  276 

(xxxvii) 


xxxviii  LIST  OF  ILLUSTRATIONS. 

PAGE 

Port  of  Tripoli 285 

Chase  of  the  Constitution Facing  338 

Hoisting  the  Constitution's  boats 340 

Map  showing  cruise  of  the  Constitution 346 

Diagram  of  the  Constitution- ffuerri&re  fight 348 

The  (riierriere  in  the  trough  of  the  sea         ....     Facing  353 

Portsmouth 365 

View  in  the  Canary  Islands 367 

Scene  of  the  second  frigate  action 371 

Diagram  of  the  United  States- Macedonian  fight         ....  375 

The  United  States  raking  the  Macedonian  ....     Facing  380 

Cruise  of  the  Constitution,  Hornet  and  Java 397 

Bahia 399 

Action  between  the  Constitution  and  the  Java     .        .        .     Facing  406 

Map  showing  the  cruises  of  the  Hornet  and  the  Wasp         .        .        .  419 

Diagram  of  the  Hornet- Peacock  fight 421 

Diagram  of  the  Wasp-Frolic  fight 430 

Action  between  the  Wasp  and  the  Frolic     ....     Facing  432 

Diagram  of  the  Chesapeake- Shannon  fight 452 

The  struggle  for  the  Chesapeake 's  forecastle        .        .        .     Facing  458 

Lawrence's  tomb 466 

Scene  of  the  naval  operations  on  the  Great  Lakes        ....  471 

Map  of  Lake  Erie 495 

Diagram  of  the  battle  of  Lake  Erie,  No.  1 504 

The  battle  of  Lake  Erie Facing  510 

Diagram  of  the  battle  of  Lake  Erie,  No.  2 512 

Graves  of  Burrows  and  Blythe 540 

Map  showing  the  cruise  of  the  Essex 544 

Captain  Porter  with  his  squadron  at  Nukahiva    .        .        .     Facing  556 

The  Essex  cruising  with  her  prizes 559 

The  Phoebe  and  the  Cherub  attacking  the  Essex  .        .        .     Facing  565 

City  of  Valparaiso 572 

The  Wasp  sinking  the  Avon Facing  600 

Diagram  of  the  battle  of  Lake  Champlain  (No.  1)        ....  605 
Diagram  of  the  battle  of  Lake  Champlain  (No.  2)        .        .        .        .611 

Battle  of  Lake  Champlain Facing  613 

Diagram  of  the  Constitution-Cyane-Levant  fight        ....  627 

The  Constitution  backing  between  the  two  English  ships  .     Facing  629 

The  Constitution  at  close  quarters Facing  632 

Captain  Decatur  wounded Facing  644 

Chase  of  the  Hornet  by  the  Cornwallis        ....     Facing  655 


PAET  FIEST. 
THE  WAR  OP  THE   REVOLUTION, 


CHAPTER   I. 

THE   UNITED   STATES   A   MAEITIME   NATION". 

THE  people  of  the  United  States  have  inherited  an 
aptitude  for  the  sea  from  five  of  the  greatest  maritime 
nations  of  the  world.  The  Spanish  and  Portuguese  at 
the  time  of  the  discovery  of  the  New  World  were  the 
boldest  and  most  skillful  mariners  in  Europe,  and  the 
State  of  Maine  to-day  is  populated  to  an  appreciable 
extent  by  descendants  of  these  first  explorers  who  have 
contributed  not  a  little  to  the  shipbuilding  industry 
that  for  two  centuries  has  made  the  State  famous.  After 
the  Spaniards  and  Portuguese  came  the  French,  Dutch 
and  English,  all  of  whom  at  some  period  have  main 
tained  a  high  place  among  the  maritime  powers  of  Eu 
rope.  The  French  and  Dutch,  like  the  Spaniards  and 
Portuguese,  became  assimilated  with  the  English  popu 
lation  but,  in  common  with  the  Anglo-Saxons,  retained 
their  skill  as  sailors. 

Not  only  did  the  people  of  the  United  States  inherit 
nautical  skill  from  the  boldest  navigators  of  the  Old 
World,  but  the  surroundings  and  every-day  life  of 
the  early  colonist  were  such  as  to  develop  this  skill 
to  an  extraordinary  degree.  The  first  settlements 
were  made  along  the  coast  line,  and  even  those  who 
came  at  a  late  day  followed  the  course  of  rivers  and 
lakes  as  being  the  easiest  means  of  receiving  their  sup 
plies  and  of  forwarding  their  products  to  the  outside 
world,  so  that  the  maintenance  of  sailing  craft  became 
an  almost  necessary  condition  of  existence.  Even  be 
tween  houses  in  the  same  settlement,  especially  those 
that  clustered  around  irregularly  formed  bays,  visits 

(3) 


4        THE  UNITED  STATES  A   MARITIME  NATION.   1614-1639. 

were  more  conveniently  made  in  boats,  and  it  was  not 
uncommon  to  see  a  household  embark  in  a  barge  on  a 
peaceful  Sabbath  morning  and  row  across  the  quiet 
waters  of  some  bay  or  river  to  "attend  meeting."  The 
waters  along  which  these  settlements  were  founded 
supplied  the  colonists  with  an  important  means  of  sub- 
sistence,  so  that  fishing  in  boats  became  a  regular  oc> 
cupation. 

The  trade  between  the  colonies  developed  this  nau 
tical  bent  on  a  larger  scale.  Owing  to  the  difficulty  of 
cutting  roads  through  boundless  forests  and  the  great 
expense  of  bridging  rivers,  intercolonial  trade  was  car, 
ried  on  by  water,  so  that  from  the  beginning  the  colo* 
nies  were  compelled  to  maintain  a  commercial  marine. 
As  the  settlements  grew  in  number  and  wealth  this 
commerce  increased  proportionately  until  at  the  out 
break  of  the  Revolution  it  had  aroused  the  jealousy  oi: 
England.  The  colonial  legislatures  from  the  first  were 
fully  alive  to  the  importance  of  this  trade  and  in  1639 
New  England  legislated  directly  in  favor  of  her  fisher 
men  and  shipwrights,  the  former  being  excused  from 
military  duty  during  the  fishing  season  while  the  latter 
were  exempt  the  year  around.  When  we  remember 
the  dangers  surrounding  these  feeble  colonies,  both 
from  a  savage  foe  and  from  hostile  Europeans,  we  can 
more  readily  understand  how  great  a  privilege  was 
exemption  from  military  service  in  those  days. 

As  a  result  of  this  fostering  care  shipbuilding  soon 
became  an  important  industry.  The  first  decked  vessel 
built  in  'North  America  was  constructed  by  Schipper 
Adrian  Block  and  was  launched  in  the  Hudson  River 
in  the  summer  of  1614,  its  length  being  thirty-eight 
feet  on  the  keel,  forty-four  and  one  half  feet  over  all, 
and  eleven  feet  beam.  Other  small  vessels  for  the  In 
dian  trade  were  built  about  this  time  in  New  Amster 
dam  (New  York).  In  1615  the  French,  Portuguese 
and  Spaniards  had  about  three  hundred  vessels  in  the 
Newfoundland  fisheries  while  the  English  had  about 


1527-1713.     INTEREST  OF  COLONISTS   IN  SHIPBUILDING.        5 

one  hundred  and  seventy,  most  of  these  vessels  making 
some  port  in  North  America  their  base  of  supplies.  In 
1632,  twelve  years  after  the  landing  of  the  Pilgrims, 
"a  vessel  of  one  hundred  tons,  and  in  the  next  year 
another  of  double  that  measurement,  were  launched 
in  Mystic  River,  Massachusetts." 

We  may  form  some  idea  of  the  great  interest  taken 
by  the  early  settlers  in  shipbuilding  from  the  following 
extract  from  a  letter  written  in  1641  by  a  New  England 
colonist  to  friends  in  England  :  "Besides  many  boats, 
shallocks,  hoys,  lighters,  pinnaces,  we  are  in  a  way  of 
building  ships  of  a  hundred,  two  hundred,  three  hun 
dred,  four  hundred  tons.  Five  of  them  are  already  at 
sea,  many  more  in  hand  at  this  present,  we  being  much 
encouraged  herein  by  reason  of  the  plenty  and  excel 
lence  of  our  timber  for  that  purpose,  and  seeing  all  the 
materials  will  be  had  there  in  a  short  time."  Many  of 
these  vessels  were  built  by  Hugh  Peters,  who  some 
years  later  was  executed  in  England  for  high  treason. 
By  1676  Massachusetts  alone  had  built  seven  hundred 
and  thirty  vessels,  varying  from  six  tons  to  two  hun 
dred  and  fifty  tons,  and  in  1690  the  Falkland,  the  first 
ship  of  the  line  built  in  America,  was  launched  in  the, 
Piscataqua.  In  1713  Massachusetts  employed  three! 
thousand  four  hundred  and  ninety- three  seamen,  and  x/ 
four  hundred  and  ninety-two  vessels  with  a  total  of  ! 
twenty-five  thousand  four  hundred  and  six  tons.  And 
in  the  following  year  the  first  schooner  built  in  Amer 
ica  was  launched,  its  builder  being  Henry  Robinson  of  I 
Cape  Ann. 

Many  circumstances  contributed  to  make  the  inter 
colonial  commerce  assume  the  character  of  an  armed 
trade.  On  looking  over  the  map  of  North  America  of 
the  period  from  1630  to  1660,  it  will  be  seen  that  the 
region  about  the  St.  Lawrence  was  occupied  by  the 
French,  who  had  settled  there  as  early  as  1527,  the 
present  New  England  States  were  held  by  the  Eng 
lish,  New  Netherlands  (New  York)  by  the  Dutch, 


6         THE   UNITED  STATES  A   MARITIME  NATION.  1631-1717. 

New  Sweden  (Delaware)  by  the  Swedes,  Virginia  and 
Maryland  by  the  English,  while  South  Carolina  and 
Georgia  were  claimed  by  the  French,  and  Florida  by 
the  Spaniards.  Thus  an  English  vessel  bound  from 
Massachusetts  to  Virginia,  skirting  along  the  coasts  of 
New  Netherlands  and  New  Sweden,  frequently  fell  in 
with  outward  and  inward  bound  ships  of  those  colo 
nies  as  well  as  with  those  of  France  and  Spain.  The 
parent  states,  while  at  war  and  sometimes  when  at 
peace,  encouraged  their  colonies  in  the  New  World 
to  attack,  harass,  and  in  every  way  check  the  growth 
of  their  neighbors,  and  this  rendered  it  necessary  for 
vessels  engaged  in  the  coasting  trade  to  be  well  armed, 
while  their  crews  were  as  carefully  instructed  in  the 
use  of  firearms  as  in  the  handling  of  the  sails. 

This  armed  trade  was  further  necessitated  by  the 
boldness  and  number  of  the  buccaneers  who  infested 
the  coast  of  North  America  and  the  West  India  Islands 
in  the  seventeenth  and  eighteenth  centuries  and  even 
at  the  beginni'ng  of  the  nineteenth  century.  As  early 
as  1631  the  Colony  of  Plymouth  built  a  bark  of  thirty 
tons,  which  was  named  the  Blessing  of  the  Bay,  for 
the  special  object  of  defending  its  coasts  against  pi 
rates.  By  the  close  of  the  seventeenth  century  piracy 
had  assumed  alarming  proportions,  and  the  exploits  of 
Captain  William  Kidd  finally  compelled  England  to 
take  vigorous  measures  against  it,  and  for  a  time  the 
freebooters  were  suppressed.  But  after  the  peace  of 
1713  they  began  their  depredations  again,  and  in  1717  a 
piratical  craft  called  the  WJiidali,  of  twenty-three  guns, 
manned  by  one  hundred  and  thirty  men  under  the  com 
mand  of  Samuel  Bellamy,  cruised  off  the  coast  of  New 
England  with  impunity  until  she  was  wrecked  with 
her  prizes  on  Cape  Cod,  where  all  on  board  perished 
except  six,  who  were  seized  and  executed  in  Boston. 
About  1718  William  Khett  routed  a  gang  of  pirates 
who  had  been  established  near  the  mouth  of  Cape  Fear 
River,  North  Carolina.  Two  sloops  were  seized  and 


1613-1723.   THE   COLONIAL  SEAMAN  A  DANGEROUS  FOE.      7 

their  crews  were  exterminated.  In  1723  an  English 
sloop  of  war  brought  into  Rhode  Island  twenty-five 
pirates. 

Whale-fishing  also  tended  to  develop  the  seaman-' 
ship  of  the  colonists.  This  industry  was  established 
early  in  the  seventeenth  century  and  increased  rap 
idly;  before  the  Revolution  Massachusetts  alone  had 
three  hundred  vessels  engaged  in  it.  Owing  to  the 
great  distance  these  vessels  sailed  from  home  and  their 
frequent  meetings  with  hostile  ships,  they  were  heav 
ily  armed  and  their  crews  were  carefully  instructed  in 
the  use  of  firearms.  The  fate  of  Oldham  in  the  sloop 
Gallop,  which  was  captured  by  the  Narragansett  In 
dians,  taught  the  early  mariner  that  even  the  savages 
must  be  guarded  against. 

Such  were  the  peculiar  conditions  of  early  life  in 
the  North  American  colonies  that  tended  to  develop 
the  maritime  spirit  of  the  American  people.  It  is  not 
strange,  therefore,  that  the  colonial  seaman  was  a  skill 
ful  mariner  and  a  dangerous  foe,  and  it  was  largely 
owing  to  this  that  after  the  independence  of  the  United 
States  was  established  the  Lords  of  the  Admiralty,  in 
their  eagerness  to  secure  American  seamen,  violated 
the  laws  of  nations  in  order  to  impress  our  sailors 
into  their  service.  Many  of  the  best  colonial  families 
entered  their  sons  in  the  royal  navy  where  they  attained 
high  rank,  some  of  them  being  numbered  among  Eng 
land' s  greatest  naval  heroes.  Washington,  at  the  age 
of  fifteen,  "  urged  so  pressingly  to  be  permitted  to  enter 
the  British  navy,  that  the  place  of  a  midshipman  was 
obtained  for  him." 1 

It  was  not  long  before  the  American  colonist  began 
to  assert  himself  on  the  high  seas.  The  first  attempt 
was  made  in  1613  when  Samuel  Argal  commanded  an 
expedition  of  eleven  vessels,  mounting  in  all  fourteen 
light  guns,  from  Virginia  against  a  French  settlement 

1  Marshall's  Life  of  Washington,  vol.  ii.,  p.  2. 


S         THE  UNITED  STATES  A  MARITIME  NATION.   1613-1665. 

in  Nova  Scotia.  As  the  French  were  without  artillery 
the  place  was  reduced  with  little  difficulty.  On  return 
ing  to  Virginia,  Argal  was  sent  against  Acadia  a  second 
time  with  only  three  vessels,  but  better  equipped  than 
his  first  command,  and  he  laid  waste  all  the  French 
settlements. 

Entering  New  Amsterdam  (New  York)  on  his  return, 
he  obtained  the  surrender  of  that  place,  claiming  that 
it  rightfully  belonged  to  England  by  virtue  of  its  having 
been  first  discovered  by  an  Englishman,  but  as  he  had 
no  means  of  making  good  his  conquest  the  Dutch  re 
turned  to  their  old,  allegiance  immediately  after  his 
departure.  Returning  to  Virginia,  Argal  lost  one  of 
his  ships  in  a  storm,  another  was  driven  to  the  Azores 
and  made  its  way  to  England,  and  the  third  regained 
the  Chesapeake.  These  expeditions  were  undertaken 
while  the  two  countries  concerned  were  at  peace,  and 
the  prisoners  taken  narrowly  escaped  being  executed 
as  pirates.  This  fact,  together  with  the  statement  that 
pirates  of  that  day  often  began  their  enterprises  with 
prayer,  reveals  a  singularly  unsettled  condition  of  af 
fairs,  and  shows  how  necessary  it  was  that  the  ear]y 
mariner  should  be  self-reliant  and  capable  of  fighting 
his  own  battles.  In  1645  a  vessel  built  in  Massachu 
setts  gained  wide  celebrity  by  beating  off  a  rover  of 
Barbary  near  the  Canary  Islands  after  an  all-day  fight. 
In  1648  the  settlements  of  Hartford  and  New  Haven 
employed  a  vessel  of  ten  guns  to  cruise  in  Long  Island 
Sound  so  as  to  guard  against  the  encroachments  of  the 
Dutch,  and  from  1665  Connecticut  kept  a  small  cruiser 
off  Watch  Hill  to  intercept  the  Narragansett  Indians 
in  their  threatened  attempts  against  the  Montauks, 
who  were  allies  of  the  settlers. 

The  ease  and  impunity  with  which  the  French  and 
Indians  made  their  incursions  on  the  English  settle 
ments  aroused  the  latter  to  a  realization  of  the  danger 
threatening  them  from  the  north.  The  New  England 
colonists,  being  nearest  to  the  Canadas,  were  the  heav- 


1690.         NAVAL  EXPEDITIONS  AGAINST  THE   FRENCH.         9 

iest  sufferers  from  these  inroads,  and  were  the  first  to 
take  effective  measures  against  the  French.  On  the  28th 
of  April,  1690,  "seven  or  eight  hundred  men  in  eight 
small  vessels"  were  sent  by  Massachusetts  against 
Port  Royal,  Nova  Scotia,  the  command  of  the  expe 
dition  being  given  to  Sir  William  Phipps,  a  New  Eng- 
lander.  Port  Royal  was  taken  before  a  blow  could  be 
struck  in  its  defense.  The  squadron  then  destroyed 
a  French  fort  at  the  mouth  of  the  St.  John  River, 
and  on  the  30th  of  May  it  returned  to  Boston  in  tri 
umph. 

Elated  with  this  success,  the  colonists  determined 
to  send  an  expedition  against  Quebec,  and  on  the  9th  of 
August,  1690,  a  fleet  of  "  thirty- two  vessels,  the  largest 
numbering  forty-four  guns,"1  carrying  two  thousand 
men  and  provisions  for  four  months,  sailed  from  Nan- 
tucket.  A  land  force  under  the  command  of  Captain 
Church  was  to  reach  the  point  of  attack  by  Lake 
Champlain.  Sir  William  Phipps  and  John  Walley 
were  made  general  and  lieutenant-general  of  the  naval 
forces.  It  was  not  until  the  6th  of  October  that  the 
fleet  approached  Quebec,  the  expedition  under  Cap 
tain  Church  in  the  meantime  having  found  the  route 
impracticable,  returned.  On  the  8th  of  October  Sir 
William  Phipps  landed  fourteen  hundred  men  about 
two  miles  below  the  town,  and  on  the  following  day  the 
ships  opened  a  heavy  cannonade,  but  they  did  little 
injury  owing  to  the  great  height  of  the  land  batteries. 
After  several  days  of  ineffective  cannonading  the  fleet 
put  back  to  Boston,  but  on  the  return  passage  it  met 
with  heavy  weather,  in  which  two  of  the  vessels  found 
ered  while  several  were  carried  to  the  West  Indies. 
One  ship  was  wrecked  in  the  St.  Lawrence,  and,  says 
Palfrey,  "  the  number  of  men  lost  in  the  expedition  by 
disease  and  casualties  was  estimated  at  two  hundred, 
though  only  thirty  fell  by  the  hands  of  the  enemy 

1  Palfrey's  History  of  New  England,  vol.  iv.,  p.  51. 
4 


10       THE    UNITED   STATES  A   MARITIME   NATION.    1706-1711. 

before  Quebec.  The  money  sacrificed  by  Massachusetts 
was  reckoned  at  fifty  thousand  pounds." 

In  1706  four  Spanish  ships  of  war  appeared  before 
Charleston,  South  Carolina,  and  demanded  the  sur 
render  of  that  place.  Lieutenant-Colonel  Rhett  was 
commissioned  vice-admiral  for  the  emergency,  and 
hoisting  his  flag  on  a  galley  called  the  Crown  got  under 
way  with  several  armed  vessels  to  engage  the  enemy, 
but  the  Spaniards,  not  waiting  for  a  battle,  beat  a 
hasty  retreat.  In  May,  1707,  twenty-three  transports 
and  whaleboats,  convoyed  by  the  Deptford,  Captain 
Stuckley,  and  the  galley  Province,  Captain  Southack, 
made  an  unsuccessful  attempt  against  Port  Royal, 
and  two  years  later  another  expedition  against  that 
place  proved  disastrous.  On  the  18th  of  September, 
1710,  however,  a  fleet  of  thirty-six  vessels  of  war  and 
transports,  under  the  command  of  Captain  Nicholson, 
sailed  from  Boston  for  a  third  attack  on  Port  Royal, 
which  place  had  been  returned  to  France  by  treaty. 
The  expedition  arrived  before  the  town  on  the  26th  of 
September,  and  on  the  1st  of  October  the  forts  were 
carried  by  storm.  In  honor  of  the  reigning  Queen 
of  England  the  name  of  the  town  was  changed  to 
Annapolis. 

Flushed  with  victory,  Mcholson  went  to  England 
where  he  urged  more  extensive  operations  for  the  follow 
ing  year,  and  as  a  result  of  his  efforts  a  fleet  of  fifteen 
vessels  of  war  and  forty  transports,  under  the  command 
of  Vice- Admiral  Sir  Hovenden  Walker,  appeared  in 
Boston  Harbor  on  the  24th  of  June,  1711,  where  it  took 
aboard  seven  thousand  well-appointed  troops,  regulars 
and  provincials,  and  on  the  30th  of  July  made  sail  for 
Quebec.  On  the  night  of  the  22d  of  August,  while 
ascending  St.  Lawrence  River  in  a  fog,  eight  ships  with 
eight  hundred  and  eighty-four  men  were  lost.  A  council 
of  war  then  decided  unanimously  to  give  up  the  ex 
pedition,  upon  which  the  royal  ships  sailed  for  Eng 
land  while  the  colonial  vessels  made  their  way  to  Bos- 


1745.  THE  EXPEDITION  AGAINST  LOUISBURG.  H 

ton.  This  disaster  plunged  the  New  England  prov 
inces  heavily  in  debt,  and  so  checked  their  maritime 
enterprise  that  not  for  thirty  years  did  they  again 
venture  on  any  considerable  undertaking. 

In  1745  they  determined  to  make  another  attack  on 
the  French,  and  a  fleet  of  fourteen  war  vessels  with 
eighty  or  ninety  transports  was  collected  in  Nantasket 
Roads,  Boston  Harbor.  The  troops  were  commanded 
by  Colonel  William  Pepperel  while  the  fleet  was  placed 
under  the  orders  of  Captain  Edward  Tyng.  The  ships 
sailed  in  several  divisions  which  were  to  rendezvous  at 
Cape  Canso,  Nova  Scotia,  and  then  invest  Louisburg. 
This  fortress  was  the  strongest  in  the  New  World.  For 
twenty-five  years  the  French  had  been  strengthening 
its  defenses,  until  at  this  time  it  was  called  the  second 
Dunkirk.  Bancroft  says  :  "  Its  walls  raised  on  a  neck 
of  land  on  the  south  side  of  the  harbor,  forty  feet 
thick  at  the  base,  and  from  twenty  to  thirty  feet  high, 
all  swept  from  the  bastions,  surrounded  by  a  ditch 
eighty  feet  wide,  were  furnished  with  one  hundred  and 
one  cannon,  seventy-six  swivels  and  six  mortars ;  its 
garrison  was  composed  of  more  than  sixteen  hundred 
men;  the  harbor  was  defended  by  an  island  battery 
of  thirty  22-pounders  and  a  royal  battery  on  the  shore, 
having  thirty  large  cannon,  a  moat  and  bastion;  all  so 
perfect  that  it  was  thought  two  hundred  men  could 
have  defended  it  against  five  thousand." 

In  less  than  two  months  from  the  time  the  Governor 
of  Massachusetts  broached  the  enterprise  to  the  Gen 
eral  Court  a  squadron  had  sailed  to  blockade  Louisburg. 
On  the  24th  of  March  the  three  thousand  men  from 
Massachusetts  embarked,  and  after  a  week's  voyage 
arrived  at  Cape  Canso,  where  they  found  the  three 
hundred  and  four  men  from  New  Hampshire,  while  ten 
days  later  five  hundred  and  sixteen  men  from  Connect 
icut  arrived ;  but  the  expedition  was  detained  by  ice 
until  the  last  of  April.  In  the  meantime  Admiral 
Warren,  having  received  orders  to  give  all  possible  as- 


THE  UNITED  STATES  A   MARITIME  NATION.        1745. 


Cha 


si  stance  to  the  colonies,  joined  the  force  at  Cape  Can  so 
with  five  ships  of  sixty  guns  each  and  six  frigates. 

On    the    30th     of 
April   the  expedi 
tion     sailed    from 
Cape  Canso  and  on 
the  following  day 
appeared       before 
Louisburg.        The 
colonists  were  des 
titute  of  siege  guns, 
and  with  a  view  of 
supplying    this    deficiency    four 
hundred    men    were    landed    to 
capture  some  heavy   cannon   in 
an    outwork    called    the    Grand 
Battery.    In  the  night  the  French 
retired  from  this  battery  to  their 
main    fortifications,     thus    ena 
bling  the  colonists  to  secure  the 
guns  without  bloodshed. 

The  investment  was  soon  completed  and  maintained 
with  no  interruption  until  the  15th  of  June,  when  the 
French,  learning  of  the  capture  of  the  long-expected 
64-gun  relief  ship  Vigilant  with  her  stores  and  troops, 
sent  out  a  flag  of  truce.  On  the  17th  the  fortress  with 
six  hundred  regular  troops  and  thirteen  hundred  militia 
was  surrendered.  The  French  flag  was  kept  flying  at 
the  fort  some  days  after  the  surrender,  by  means  of 
which  two  richly  laden  Indiamen  and  one  South  Sea 
whaler,  valued  at  three  million  dollars,  were  decoyed 
under  the  guns  and  captured.  On  the  return  of  the 
expedition  to  Massachusetts  the  20-gun  galley  Shirley, 
Captain  Rouse,  secured  eight  prizes,  two  of  which  were 
taken  only  after  an  obstinate  resistance.  For  this  serv 
ice  Captain  Rouse  received  a  commission  in  the  royal 
navy.  The  French  attempted  to  retaliate  on  the  Eng 
lish  colonists  by  sending  a  powerful  fleet  to  devastate 


1749.  RAPID  GROWTH  OF  THE   COLONIAL  MARINE.          13 

their  coasts,  but  the  first  division  of  this  fleet  was  scat 
tered  by  a  storm  and  the  second  was  defeated  by  a 
British  squadron  under  Admiral  Anson  and  Admiral 
Warren. 

During  this  war  the  English  colonies  sent  out  between 
three  and  four  hundred  privateers.  In  1749  five  hundred 
and  four  vessels  cleared  from  the  port  of  Boston  and  four 
hundred  and  eighty-nine  entered,  not  counting  coasters 
and  fishing  craft.  At  Philadelphia  in  the  same  year 
there  were  two  hundred  and  ninety- one  clearances  and 
three  hundred  and  three  entries.*  The  shipping  of  New 
York  was  about  the  same  as  Philadelphia,  while  that 
of  Portsmouth,  New  Hampshire,  had  one  hundred  and 
twenty-one  clearances  and  seventy-three  entries  besides 
two  hundred  coasting  vessels.  In  the  following  year, 

1750,  a  vessel  built  of  live  oak  arrived  in  Charleston, 
South  Carolina.     The  qualities  of  this  wood  were  found 
to  be  so  much  superior  to  those  of  the  white  oak,  which 
was  in  general  use  up  to  that  time,  that  vessels  were 
afterward  constructed  of  live  oak  in  preference  to  the 
wood  formerly  used. 


CHAPTER  II. 

THE   DEVELOPMENT   OF   NAVAL    WARFARE. 

AT  the  outbreak  of  the  American  Revolution,  in 
1775,  the  science  of  naval  warfare  had  reached  a  well- 
defined  period  of  development  and  was  in  condition  to 
enter  upon  another.  In  the  first  period,  or  from  the 
earliest  records  down  to  the  successful  introduction  of 
cannon  in  ships  in  the  sixteenth  century,  weapons 
throwing  a  projectile  with  sufficient  force  to  penetrate 
the  side  of  a  ship  had  not  been  invented,  so  that  the 
only  way  of  injuring  the  enemy  was  by  ramming, 
boarding,  or  by  throwing  missiles  from  a  height  suffi 
cient  to  overtop  the  bulwarks  and  reach  the  men  ex 
posed  on  the  deck.  Therefore  shipwrights  of  this  first 
period  raised  the  decks  of  war  vessels  to  as  great 
height  as  safety  would  permit.  As  the  weight  of 
these  decks  made  the  ship  topheavy,  not  a  few  were 
capsized  in  moderately  smooth  water,  and  to  overcome 
this  difficulty  the  constructors  invented  towers  or  cas 
tles,  which  were  erected  in  the  bow  and  stern,  and  not 
only  enabled  the  men  to  fight  from  a  greater  height 
but  diminished  the  danger  of  capsizing ;  for  with  cas 
tles  it  was  not  necessary  to  build  the  decks  so  high. 
Although  not  a  vestige  of  the  tower  or  castle  remains 
in  the  modern  ship  the  name  "castle"  or  "forecastle" 
is  still  retained.  The  masts  also  were  topped  with  a 
parapet  from  which  archers  and  spearmen  could  hurl 
their  missiles  over  the  enemy's  bulwarks. 

The  implements  of  offense  and  defense  of  the  first 
period  were :  espringalds,  haubergeons,  bacinets,  bows, 
jacks,  doublets,  targets,  pavises,  lances  and  firing  bar- 

(14) 


1337.      ANCIENT  NAVAL   WEAPONS  AND   WAR  SHIPS.         15 

rels.  These  weapons  were  improved,  until  in  1337  we 
find  the  cannon-pavoir  or  stone  shot  thrower,  basilisks, 
port-pieces,  stock-fowlers,  sakers  and  the  bombard. 
The  last  was  a  large  instrument  of  hammered  iron  made 
of  bars  welded  together,  throwing  a  stone  shot  weighing 
from  one  hundred  and  forty  to  one  hundred  and  ninety- 
five  pounds.  But  none  of  these  weapons  were  capable 
of  penetrating  the  side  of  a  ship. 

These  circumstances  caused  a  race  among  the  naval 
constructors  for  ships  with  high  sides,  each  endeavor 
ing  to  outstrip  the  other  in  the  height  of  the  castles 
and  parapet  masts.  The  different  classes  of  ships  in 
this  first  period  of  naval  history  were :  cogs,  which 
were  swift-sailing  vessels  of  two  hundred  and  fifty  tons, 
carrying  one  hundred  and  thirty  seamen  besides  sol- 


The  Great  Harry. 

diers ;  barges,  which  carried  from  sixty  to  eighty  men  ; 
balingers,  which  bore  some  resemblance  to  the  modern 


16 


THE  DEVELOPMENT  OF  NAVAL   WARFARE.         1488. 


barge ;  caraks,  which  were  used  chiefly  in  the  navies  of 
Portugal,  Spain,  Holland  and  France ;  crayers  or  trans 
ports  of  sixty  tons  or  less ;  doggers  and  lodeships  of 
thirty  men  each,  used  chiefly  as  fishing  and  pilot  boats; 
and  fluves  or  two-masted  transports.  Of  the  lesser 
craft  there  were  galleys,  galiots,  hoc-boats  or  store- 
boats,  lynes,  persours,  pikards  and  espinaces.  The 
best  specimen  of  this  school  of  naval  architecture  of 
which  we  have  a  record  is  the  &reat  Harry  ^  built  in 
1488. 

The  gradual  improvement  in  cannon  with  sufficient 
power  to  penetrate  the  side  of  a  ship  rendered  these 


The  Sovereign  of  the  Seas. 

high  decks,  castles  and  towers  not  only  useless  but 
objectionable,  and  this  brought  about  a  new  style  in 
naval  construction  which  began  the  second  era  in  ship 
building.  In  the  same  ratio  that  cannon  were  improved 
the  towers  and  castles  were  lowered,  until  at  the  out 
break  of  the  American  Revolution  the  frigate  had  those 
graceful  lines  which  were  not  improved,  except  in  minor 
details,  down  to  the  introduction  of  ironclad  ships, 


1512.      ARMAMENT  OF  THE  SOVEREIGN  OP  THE  SEAS.        17 

1855-1865  ;  and  that  again  marks  a  third  era  in  naval 
construction.  But  the  introduction  of  cannon  in  ships 
was  slow,  owing  to  imperfect  castings  and  the  unwill 
ingness  of  the  Admiralty  to  depart  from  the  traditions 
of  the  service.  The  cannon  first  used  were  unwieldy, 
and  dangerous  alike  to  friend  and  foe,  one  discharge 
being  considered  sufficient,  the  rest  of  the  battle  being 
fought  on  the  old  tactics.  The  invention  of  brass  can 
non  in  1535  did  much  to  hasten  this  evolution  in  ship 
building. 

5  The  Henry  Grace  de  Dieu,  a  ship  of  one  thousand 
tons  built  in  1512,  marks  the  dividing  line  between  the 
first  and  second  eras  in  naval  architecture.  In  this 
curious  craft  were  combined  the  towers,  castles,  lofty 
decks  and  parapet  masts  of  the  old  school  with  the* 
numerous  ordnance  of  the  new,  her  armament  consisting 
of  fourteen  guns  on  the  lower  deck,  twelve  on  the  main 
deck,  eighteen  on  the  quarter-deck  and  poop,  eighteen 
on  the  lofty  forecastle  and  ten  in  the  stern  ports. 
This  distribution  of  her  cannon  shows  that  her  build 
ers  adhered  to  the  idea  of  placing  the  heaviest  batteries 
on  the  highest  decks,  where 
they  could  be  fired  over 
the  bulwarks  and  upon  the 
decks  of  the  enemy,  and  in 
spite  of  frequent  disasters 
from  thus  making  the  ship 
topheavy,  English  ship 
wrights  clung  to  their  tra 
ditions  with  characteristic 
tenacity.  Raleigh  notes  The  fr-igate  in  180°- 

that  a  vessel  of  six  hundred  tons,  the  Mary  Rose, 
sank  at  Spithead  because  of  ua  little  sway  in  casting 
the  ship  about." 

When  the  Sovereign  of  the  Seas  was  built,  1637,  the 
second  period  of  naval  construction  was  well  under  way. 
In  this  craft,  which  for  many  years  was  regarded  as  the 
"  goodliest  shippe  in  all  the  worlde,"  the  forecastle  was 


18  THE  DEVELOPMENT  OF   NAVAL   WAKFARE.        1775. 

entirely  done  away  with  and  the  after  tower  was  much 
reduced,  while  the  arrangement  of  her  armament  was 
the  reverse  of  that 'of  the  Henry  Grace  de  Dieu,  the 
heaviest  and  greatest  number  of  guns  being  on  the 
lower  decks  while  the  lighter  calibers  were  placed  on 
the  upper  decks.  Her  armament  consisted  of  thirty 
cannon  (60-pounders)  and  demi-cannon  (32-pounders) 
in  the  lower  tier,  thirty  .culverins  (18-pounders)  and 
demi-culverins  (10-pounders)  in  the  middle  tier,  twenty- 
six  sakers  (5-pounders),  in  the  third  tier,  twelve  light 
guns  in  her  forecastle,  fourteen  murthering  pieces  on 
the  two  half  decks^-ten  chase  guns  forward,  ten  chase 
guns  aft,  besides  "many  loopholes  in  the  cabin  for 
musquet  shots." 

From  this  time  there  was  a  diminution  in  the  num 
ber  of  calibers.  The  Sovereign  of  the  Seas  carried  nine 
or  ten  different  calibers  varying  from  60-pounders  to 
1 -pound  swivels,  which  in  the  excitement  of  battle 
occasioned  great  ^elay  and  ;c6*nfusion  in  loading.  At 
the  close  of  'the  eighteenth  ^century  frigates  of  her  ton 
nage  carried,  only. -ti^o  principal  calibers  and  the  num 
ber  and  weight  of  the  guns  also  were  reduced  to  one 
third,  so  that  white  the  Sovereign  of  tlie  Seas  carried 
one  hundred  and  thirty-two  cannon,  ranging  from 
60-pounders  down,  -a.  ship  of  the  same  size  in  1775 
carried  only  forty-eight  guns,  18-pounders  and  12- 
pounders  at  the  most.  Masts  also,  which  hitherto  had 
been  made  of  a  single  stick,  were  divided  into  two  and 
finally  three  separate  spars. 

Suchx  in  brief,  was  the  progress  of  naval  construc 
tion  down  to  the*  close  of  the  eighteenth  century.  The 
war  ship  at  that  period  was  the  result  of  centuries  of 
experiments,  and  a  well-ordered  frigate  had  come  to  be 
a  little  community  in  itself,  isolated  for  the  time  being 
from  the  rest  of  mankind  and  governed  by  its  own  code 
of  laws.  The  ship's  company  was  a  human  machine  in 
which  each  man  was  a  part,  all  moving  with  exact  pre 
cision  at  the  will  of  the  commander.  The  crew  was 


1800.          THE   DIVISION  OP  LABOR  IN   A  FRIGATE.  19 

divided  into  little  companies,  each  having  a  well-defined 
work  to  do.  One  set  of  men  was  appointed  to  reef,  furl 
and  take  in  the  topgallant  sails,  topsails,  topgallant, 
royal  and  topmast  studding  sails  ;  and  this  in  turn  was 
divided  into  three  sections,  one  for  each  mast,  and  were 
known  as  foretopmen,  maintopmen  and  mizzentopmen ; 
each  having  two  captains,  one  for  the  port  watch  and 
one  for  the  starboard  watch. 

Another  set  of  men  had  charge  of  the  fore  and  main 
courses  and  lower  studding  sails  whose  duty  it  was  to 
set  and  furl  the  jib,  flying  jib  and  spanker.  Other  men 
had  charge  of  all  ropes  in  the  after  part  of  the  ship, 
while  the  "scavengers"  swept  the  decks.  Then  came 
that  institution  peculiar  to  sea  life  known  as  the  "  boy." 
He  was  employed  chiefly  as  a  servant  to  officers  and 
messes,  but  in  time  of  battle  he  was  called  a  "powder- 
monkey,  "for  then  he  was  required  to  bring  ammunition 
from  the  passing  scuttles  to  the  guns.  The  captain  of  a 
frigate  usually  had  both  a  steward  and  a  boy  who  acted 
as  his  servants,  while  the  lieutenants,  purser,  surgeon 
and  sailing  master  were  entitled  to  one  boy  each.  The 
lieutenants  of  the  marines  were  waited  on  by  marines. 
One  boy  was  allotted  to  the  gunner,  boatswain  and  a 
few  others  as  a  special  favor,  while  a  man  and  a  boy 
were  appointed  to  a  certain  number  of  midshipmen. 

The  entire  crew  was  divided  into  two  watches  called 
the  port  and  starboard  watches,  each  watch  being  com 
manded  by  one  of  the  boatswain's  mates  whose  silver 
whistle,  by  which  orders  were  given,  could  be  heard 
amid  the  roar  of  a  hundred  cannon  or  the  thunder  of 
the  heaviest  storm  ;  but  the  captain,  first  lieutenant, 
surgeon,  purser,  gunner,  carpenter,  armorer,  the  stew 
ards  and  boys  were  excused  from  the  watches  except 
in  cases  of  danger.  These  watches  took  turns  in  being 
on  duty,  alternating  every  four  hours  except  between 
four  and  eight  o'clock  in  the  afternoon,  when  the 
watches  were  only  two  hours  long,  so  as  to  reverse  the 
order  every  twenty-four  honrs. 


20  THE  DEVELOPMENT   OF  NAVAL  WARFARE.         1800. 

The  same  system  was  observed  at  the  meals.  The 
ship's  company  was  divided  into  messes :  the  captain 
had  his  table  in  his  cabin ;  the  lieutenants,  purser,  sur 
geon,  sailing  masters  and  the  two  lieutenants  of  the 
marines,  composing  the  ward  room  officers,  had  their 
table  in  the  ward  room,  and  the  midshipmen  in  the 
steerage.  The  seamen  were  divided  into  messes  of 
eight  men,  each  mess  being  waited  on  by  a  boy.  Every 
mess  was  served  by  itself,  and  it  was  a  privilege  that 
tended  much  toward  good  fellowship  to  oust  any  mem 
ber  of  a  mess  who  was  not  agreeable  to  the  others, 
and  if  such  men  did  not  find  congenial  messmates 
elsewhere  they  were  put  into  a  mess  reserved  espe 
cially  for  such  disagreeable  fellows.  The  meals  were 
served  either  on  the  berth  deck  or  the  gun  deck 
where  ]arge  platforms  were  provided  which,  when 
placed  on  casks  or  suspended  from  the  deck  above, 
made  comfortable  tables,  about  thirty  inches  high,  the 
men  sitting  on  benches. 

The  fare  consisted  of  hard  tack  and  fresh  beef 
while  in  port  (but  salt  pork  and  beef  when  at  sea),  pea- 
soup  and  burgoo  or,  as  the  seamen  sportively  called 
it,  "skillagallee,"  which  was  oatmeal  boiled  to  the  con 
sistency  of  hasty  pudding.  Cocoa  sometimes  was  given 
in  place  of  burgoo,  and  once  a  week  flour  and  raisins 
were  served  with  which  the  men  made  "plum  duff." 
The  cook  of  each  mess  drew  these  provisions,  prepared 
them  for  the  mess  and  washed  the  kids  ;  he  also  drew 
a  gill  of  rum  mixed  with  two  gills  of  water  for  each 
man,  which  was  known  as  grog  and  was  served  out  at 
noon.  At  four  o'clock  in  the  afternoon  a  half -pint  of 
wine  was  served,  the  boys  receiving  only  half  rations 
of  grog  but  were  allowed  pay  for  the  rest. 

Just  before  the  British  frigate  Java  sailed  from 
England  on  the  cruise  in  which  she  was  captured  by 
the  Constitution,  1812,  a  landsman  was  brought  aboard 
by  the  press-gang,  and  toward  evening  he  asked  where 
his  bed  was — a  very  natural  and  proper  inquiry  for  a 


1800.  THE  DUTY  OF  MARINES  IN   A  FRIGATE.  21 

landlubber  to  make.  But  the  unfeeling  boatswain  told 
him  to  stick  a  knife  in  the  softest  plank  in  the  ship 
and  use  that  for  a  bed.  When,  however,  the  watch  to 
which  he  was  assigned  came  to  "turn  in"  the  "green 
horn  "  found  that  the  crew  slept  in  hammocks  strung 
on  the  berth  deck,  and  that  during  the  day  the  ubeds" 
were  rolled  up,  carried  to  the  main  deck  and  stowed 
away  in  nettings  over  the  bulwarks,  where  they  af 
forded  additional  protection  to  the  men  from  the 
enemy's  sharpshooters  in  the  tops.  Each  hammock 
had  its  number,  and  on  the  bulwarks  a  corresponding 
number  was  marked  so  the  men  knew  exactly  where 
to  place  them.  Every  evening  when  the  ship  was  at 
sea  the  drummer  beat  to  quarters,  all  hands  hurried 
to  their  stations  and  eight  men  and  a  boy  were  placed 
at  each  gun,  one  of  the  men  being  known  as  the  cap 
tain  of  the  gun,  while  another  loaded  and  sponged  and 
others  seized  the  side  and  train  tackle-falls  which  ran 
the  gun  in  and  out  of  the  port.  The  boys  of  the  ship 
took  stations  near  the  magazine,  each  boy  knowing 
which  gun  he  was  to  supply. 

There  were  thirty  or  forty  marines  in  every  frigate. 
These  soldiers,  who  were  called  marines  simply  because 
they  were  serving  in  a  ship  instead  of  on  land,  per 
formed  the  police  duty  in  the  ship,  standing  guard  at 
the  gangway  when  in  port  and  acting  as  sentinels  at 
the  cabin  and  ward  room  doors  and  at  the  ship's  galley 
during  cooking  hours.  It  was  the  policy  of  command 
ers  to  engender  as  much  "coolness  "  as  possible  between 
the  sailors  and  the  marines  so  as  to  diminish  the  chance 
of  collusion  between  them.  They  slept,  messed  and 
worked  separately,  the  marines  considering  themselves 
two  or  three  degrees  better  than  the  seamen, while  the 
latter  regarded  the  marines  with  supreme  contempt  as 
being  no  better  than  landlubbers,  and  anybody  making 
a  particularly  stupid  remark  was  told  to  "Go  tell  it  to 
the  marines." 

At  night  the  marines  were  stationed  at  the  great 


22  THE  DEVELOPMENT   OF  NAVAL   WARFARE.         1800. 

guns  as  sentinels,  and  in  time  of  battle  they  were  placed 
in  the  tops  where  it  was  their  duty  to  pick  off  the  enemy 
with  their  muskets.  In  case  of  close  quarters  they 
were  expected  to  board  the  enemy,  assisted  by  two  or 
three  seamen  from  each  gun,  the  latter  being  armed 
with  pistols,  cutlasses  and  boarding  pikes.  These 
were  known  as  the  ' '  boarders, ' '  and  when  they  were 
called  for,  just  so  many  men  and  no  more  ran  from 
each  gun  to  the  critical  point.  Beating  to  quarters 
was  practiced  every  day  in  well-ordered  frigates,  so 
that  the  men  became  wonderfully  proficient  in  execut 
ing  orders,  and  in  the  presence  of  the  enemy  these 
exercises  were  supplemented  by  bringing  up  ammuni 
tion  and  piling  it  along  the  deck  for  immediate  use, 
while  small  arms,  boarding  pikes  and  cutlasses  were 
stacked  around  the  masts  and  other  convenient  places. 
The  cockpit  and  the  steerage  were  cleared  for  the  re 
ception  of  the  wounded  and  the  surgeon  and  his  as 
sistants  spread  out  their  instruments,  while  the  decks 
above  were  sanded  to  make  them  less  slippery  when 
blood  should  begin  to  flow. 

Such  was  the  complicated  machinery  of  the  frigate 
at  the  close  of  the  eighteenth  century,  and  it  seemed  at 
that  time  as  if  there  was  little  left  for  American  ingenu 
ity  to  improve  upon.  The  general  lines  of  the  ship 
remained  the  same  down  to  the  introduction  of  iron  in 
shipbuilding,  and  the  armaments  underwent  no  radical 
change  until  the  American  civil  war,  while  the  system 
of  managing  the  ship's  company  is  practically  the  same 
to-day  as  it  was  a  hundred  years  ago.  But  the  Ameri 
can  commander  and  shipwright  made  improvements 
here  and  there  in  the  details  of  the  frigate  which,  when 
taken  as  a  whole,  accomplished  amazing  results  in  the 
French  War  and  in  the  War  of  1812. 

The  first  thing  to  which  they  turned  their  attention 
was  the  condition  of  the  crew.  Impressment  was  sel 
dom  resorted  to.  The  Massachusetts  State  government 
attempted  to  coerce  sailors  to  serve  in  the  Alliance  in 


1800.  IMPROVED  SANITARY  ARRANGEMENTS.  23 

1779,  when  that  ship  was  commissioned  to  convey  Lafay 
ette  to  France,  but  in  deference  to  the  wishes  of  the 
French  patriot  the  authorities  filled  out  the  crew  by 
other  means.  By  this  system  of  impressment,  as  prac 
ticed  in  England,  men  were  seized  in  the  streets  or  wher 
ever  found  by  the  press-gangs  and  hurried  on0  to  a 
cruel  service  without  having  time  even  to  make  neces 
sary  arrangements  for  leaving  their  families.  The 
Americans  endeavored  to  secure  a  sufficient  number  of 
seamen  by  making  their  service  attractive,  and  well- 
known  results  have  shown  the  wisdom  of  what  in  those 
days  seemed  a  rash  innovation. 

After  the  men  were  enlisted  the  American  command 
er  did  much  toward  improving  their  condition.  In  the 
days  of  the  Henry  Grace  de  Dieu  naval  warfare  was 
waged  on  the  principle  that  the  more  men  crowded 
into  a  ship  the  better.  The  regular  complement  of  the 
Henry  Grace  de  Dieu,  which  ship  was  about  the  size 
of  an  American  36-gun  frigate,  was  seven  hundred,  but 
when  an  enemy  was  expected  this  number  was  still 
further  increased.  The  Mary  Rose,  a  vessel  of  only 
six  hundred  tons,  carried  a  crew  of  five  or  six  hundred 
men.  At  the  close  of  the  eighteenth  century  this  over 
crowding  had  been  reduced  so  that  ships  of  the  tonnage 
of  the  Henry  Grace  de  Dieu  were  manned  by  only 
three  hundred  men  and  those  of  the  Mary  Rose  by 
only  one  hundred  and  eighty  men. 

At  the  time  of  the  American  Revolution,  however, 
the  sanitary  condition  of  war  ships,  in  spite  of  the  re 
duction  made  in  the  number  of  the  crew,  was  very 
imperfect.  In  fact  the  greatest  danger  on  an  extended 
voyage  was  not  so  much  the  perils  of  the  sea  or  attacks 
from  the  enemy  as  scurvy,  smallpox  and  other  dis 
eases.  It  sometimes  happened  that  nearly  an  entirn 
ship's  company  was  carried  off  while  in  mid-ocean  by 
these  dreadful  scourges,  and  one  of  the  great  achieve 
ments  of  Captain  David  Porter  in  his  cruise  of  seventeen 
months  in  the  Pacific  was  the  perfect  health  in  which  he 


24:  THE  DEVELOPMENT  OF  NAVAL  WARFARE.         1811. 

kept  the  three  hundred  and  more  men  who  were  for  so 
long  a  time  confined  on  the  decks  of  the  little  Essex. 
We  can  better  understand  this  when  it  is  borne  in  mind 
that  this  occurred  in  days  when  the  only  means  of 
preserving  meat  was  by  salting,  and  when  the  many 
modern  improvements  in  the  art  of  keeping  food  whole 
some  were  unknown.  That  the  expedients  resorted  to 
by  Captain  Porter  to  keep  his  crew  in  good  health  were 
unusual  in  his  day  is  seen  by  the  minute  description  of 
them  in  his  Journal. 

That  the  Americans  were  entitled  to  the  credit  of 
having  begun  a  reform  in  the  matter  of  impressment 
of  seamen  is  shown  in  Captain  Edward  P.  Brenton's 
History  of  the  British  Navy, when  he  says:  "On  the 
subject  of  impressment  I  will,  however,  venture  to  say 
as  one  well  entitled  to  speak  from  experience,  that 
Great  Britain  must,  as  she  values  her  welfare,  be  the 
first  to  abandon  this  unjust  practice.  Let  us  not  be 
compelled  to  abandon  it  by  America.  Let  us  relinquish 
it  as  a  willing  and  cheerful  sacrifice  to  the  just  and 
indisputable  rights  of  man."  The  brutality  of  the 
British  service  at  this  period,  although  not  equaling 
that  of  some  Continental  navies,  was,  to  the  American 
mind,  almost  beyond  belief.  Flogging  for  petty  of 
fenses  in  many  ships  was  of  almost  daily  occurrence, 
and  severer  punishments,  such  as  flogging  through  the 
fleet,  were  inflicted  with  frequency  according  to  the 
disposition  of  the  commander.  While  a  detailed  de 
scription  of  the  last-named  punishment  may  be  revolt 
ing,  it  is  necessary  in  order  to  convey  some  idea  of  the 
condition  of  the  seamen  of  that  day  and  the  great  im 
provements  that  have  been  made. 

We  have  a  well-authenticated  instance  of  flogging 
through  the  fleet  as  late  as  1811,  which  occurred  in  the 
British  38-gun  frigate  Macedonian,  Captain  John  S. 
Garden,  afterward  captured  by  the  United  States.  A 
midshipman  named  Gale,  who  was  reputed  to  be  a 
"rascally,  unprincipled  fellow,"  found  his  handker- 


1811. 


FLOGGING  THROUGH  THE  FLEET. 


25 


chief  in  the  possession  of  one  of  the  crew.    Gale  charged 
the  man  with  stealing  it  although  the  latter  insisted 


Flogging  (from  a  sketch  by  George  Cruikshank,  1818). 

that  he  had  found  it  under  his  hammock,  which  was 
quite  possible  since  the  midshipmen  frequently  passed 
through  the  berth  deck  on  inspection  and  on  other 
duties.  The  case  was  reported,  a  court-martial  was 
convened  and  the  seaman  was  sentenced  to  receive  three 
hundred  lashes  through  the  fleet  and  imprisonment  for 
one  year.  On  the  day  appointed  the  prisoner  was 
taken  into  the  ship's  launch.  This  boat  had  been 
rigged  for  the  occasion  with  poles  and  grating  to  which 
the  prisoner,  stripped  to  the  waist,  was  " sized  up"  or 
bound  at  his  wrists  and  ankles  to  the  grating  with  spun 
yarn.  The  ship's  surgeon  took  his  place  in  the  launch 
to  determine  when  nature  had  reached  the  extreme 
limit  of  endurance,  and  a  boat  from  every  ship  in  the 
fleet,  each  containing  one  or  two  officers  and  two  ma 
rines  fully  armed,  attended  and  was  connected  by  a 

towline  to  the  prisoner1  s  boat. 
5 

£"3 

f  :RSITY 


26  THE  DEVELOPMENT   OF  NAVAL  WARFARE.         1811. 

Having  completed  these  preliminaries  the  crew  of 
the  victim's  ship  manned  the  yards  and  rigging  to  get 
a  better  view  of  the  proceedings,  for  the  punishment 
was  intended  to  be  a  warning  to  them.  At  the  word 
from  the  officer  in  charge  the  boatswain,  with  coat  off 
and  sleeves  rolled  up,  carefully  spread  the  nine  cords 
of  the  cat  with  the  fingers  of  his  left  hand,  then  threw 
the  instrument  over  his  right  shoulder  and  brought  it 
down  with  all  his  strength  on  the  bare  back  of  the 
prisoner.  The  flesh  crept  and  reddened.  Lash  followed 
lash  with  nothing  to  break  the  dreadful  silence  save 
the  swish  of  the  nine  cords  cutting  through  the  air  and 
striking  on  human  flesh,  and  the  cries  of  the  agonized 
prisoner.  In  order  that  the  blows  might  be  delivered 
with  undiminished  vigor  to  the  end  the  boatswain,  on 
the  completion  of  one  dozen  lashes,  handed  the  cat  to 
one  of  his  mates  who  stood  beside  him,  and  they  in 
turn  delivered  one  dozen  lashes  each. 

The  first  sixty  lashes  were  inflicted  alongside  the 
Macedonian,  in  conformity  with  the  custom  of  giving 
the  greatest  number  by  the  prisoner's  ship  so  that  his 
gory  back  might  strike  terror  in  the  crews  of  the  other 
ships.  By  this  time  his  back  had  been  lacerated  beyond 
description,  the  flesh  resembling  "  roasted  meat,  burned 
nearly  black  before  a  scorching  fire. "  His  shirt  now  was 
thrown  over  his  wounds,  the  boatswain  and  his  mates 
returned  to  their  ship,  all  hands  were  piped  down,  the 
drummer  beat  the  Rogue's  March  and  the  procession  of 
boats  moved  on  to  the  next  ship.  Here  the  yards  and 
rigging  were  manned  by  the  crew  and  the  boatswain 
with  his  mates  descended  into  the  prisoner' s  launch,  cat 
in  hand.  Removing  the  shirt  he  exposed  the  ghastly 
spectacle  to  his  shipmates  aloft,  and  he  and  his  mates 
then  delivered  one,  two,  or  three  dozen  lashes,  according 
to  the  number  of  ships  in  the  fleet.  This  scene  was  to  be 
repeated  at  the  side  of  every  ship  in  the  fleet  until  the 
three  hundred  lashes  were  delivered,  but  the  attending 
surgeon  at  the  end  of  two  hundred  and  twenty  blows 


1812.  THE  DEGRADING  EFFECTS  OP  FLOGGING.  27 

pronounced  the  prisoner  unfit  to  receive  any  more. 
Galled,  bruised  and  agonized  as  he  was,  the  prisoner 
begged  them  to  deliver  the  remaining  eighty  blows  so 
that  he  would  not  again  be  compelled  to  pass  through 
the  degrading  ordeal.  His  request  was  denied,  he 
was  taken  aboard  his  ship,  his  wounds  were  dressed, 
and  when  partially  healed — for  human  flesh  could  never 
fully  recover  from  such  horrible  laceration — Captain 
Garden,  Shylock-like,  determined  to  have  the  whole 
pound  of  flesh,  and  the  remaining  eighty  were  delivered 
before  the  year  of  imprisonment  was  begun.  Thus  the 
mangled  wretch  was  ruined  for  life,  broken  in  spirit, 
all  sense  of  self-respect  gone,  ever  to  be  a  crawling, 
servile,  cringing  slave  to  the  beck  of  his  fellow-seamen, 
ready  with  sullen  alacrity  to  obey  their  slightest  wish. 

This  case  was  neither  one  of  exceptional  severity  nor 
one  of  rare  occurrence.  When  the  United  States  32- 
gun  frigate  Essex,  Captain  Smith,  was  in  England, 
shortly  before  the  War  of  1812,  a  deserter  from  an 
English  vessel  of  war  sought  refuge  in  her.  A  British 
lieutenant  came  aboard  and  made  a  formal  demand  for 
the  man.  On  being  sent  below  to  get  his  clothes  the 
deserter  deliberately  walked  to  the  carpenter's  bench 
on  the  gun  deck  and  seizing  an  axe,  with  one  blow  cut 
off  his  left  hand.  Picking  up  the  severed  member  with 
his  right  hand  he  returned  to  the  quarter-deck  and 
flung  it  at  the  feet  of  his  captors,  saying  that  he  would 
cut  off  his  left  foot  before  he  would  again  serve  in  a 
British  man-of-war.  Horrified  at  the  spectacle  the 
English  officer  left  the  Essex  without  his  prisoner. 

It  was  a  peculiar  feature  of  the  brutal  punishment 
of  flogging  that  officers  and  men  who  at  first  sickened 
and  fainted  at  the  sight  of  it  gradually  grew  indifferent, 
and  in  some  instances  acquired  a  craving  for  the  bloody 
ordeal  and  took  a  fiendish  delight  in  superintending  it. 
The  first  lieutenant  of  the  Macedonian,  David  Hope, 
was  one  of  these.  He  took  the  exquisite  delight  of  a 
connoisseur  in  the  art  of  flogging,  being  especially  fond 


28  THE  DEVELOPMENT  OF  NAVAL  WARFARE.         1812. 

of  seeing  the  tender  flesh  of  boys  lacerated  and  torn,  and 
with  the  nice  sense  of  propriety  that  conies  to  experts 
he  ordered  that  boys  should  handle  the  cat  when  boys 
were  to  be  flogged.  Captain  Lord  William  Fitzroy  was 
of  the  same  school,  but  he  urged  as  his  excuse  that 
discipline  required  it.  He  insisted  that  the  men  must 
be  cowed,  and  when  punishments  grew  slack  he  hunted 
up  old  charges  in  order  that  discipline  might  not  be 
impaired  through  want  of  the  application  of  the  lash. 

Flogging  was  practiced  in  the  American  service  at 
this  time  but  not  to  the  extent  to  which  it  was  carried 
in  the  British  and  in  Continental  navies.  The  articles 
of  war  of  the  American  navy  in  1812  and  prior  to  that 
declare  that  "not  more  than  twelve  lashes  shall  be 
given  for  a  crime,"  and  although  there  were  cases  where 
American  commanders  exceeded  this  limit,  the  in 
stances  were  rare  and  the  punishment  inflicted  was  in 
significant  when  compared  with  the  cruelty  of  the 
British  service. 

In  manoeuvring  their  ships  and  in  gunnery  also  the 
Americans  made  great  improvements.  Even  as  late  as 
1812  the  English  commander  had  much  to  learn  from 
the  American.  Sir  Howard  Douglas  in  his  work  on 
Naval  Gunnery  says  :  "  The  United  States  commanders 
so  circumspectly  and  cautiously  adapted  their  tactics 
to  the  superior  powers  of  their  armaments  that,  even 
when  opposed  to  very  inferior  numbers  and  quality  of 
ordnance,  they  would  neither  approach  nor  permit  us 
to  join  in  close  battle  until  they  had  gained  some  de 
cisive  advantage  from  the  superior  faculties  of  their 
long  guns  in  distant  cannonade  and  from  the  intrepid, 
uncircumspect  and  often  very  exposed  approach  of  an 
assailant,  who  had  been  long  accustomed  to  contemn 
all  manoeuvring,  and  who  only  considered  how  to  rush 
soonest  into  a  yardarm  action.  Such  unquestionably 
was  the  character  of  these  proceedings  [the  naval 
actions  of  the  War  of  1812].  The  uncircumspect  gal 
lantry  of  our  commanders  led  our  ships  unguardedly 


1812.  AMERICAN  SEAMANSHIP  AND  GUNNERY.  29 

into  snares  which  wary  caution  had  spread."  The  im 
putation  in  this  extract  that  American  commanders 
objected  to  fighting  at  close  quarters  is  not  borne  out 
by  facts.  The  Americans  undoubtedly  availed  them 
selves  to  the  utmost  of  their  superior  seamanship  and 
gunnery,  and  allowed  no  advantage  to  escape  their 
quick  perception,  but  when  anything  was  to  be  gained 
by  coming  to  close  quarters  they  were  the  first  to  seize 
the  opportunity. 

The  skill  with  which  American  commanders  manoeu 
vred  their  vessels  was  one  of  the  most  notable  fea 
tures  of  the  War  of  1812.  The  manner  in  which  they 
tacked,  luffed,  gave  their  ships  stern  board  and  raked 
during  the  excitement  and  confusion  of  battle  was 
astonishing.  In  raking  especially  they  were  remark 
ably  proficient.  By  this  manoeuvre  the  ship  was  laid 
at  right  angles  across  the  bow  or  stern  of  an  opponent 
so  that  the  entire  broadside  swept  or  raked  the  enemy's 
deck  from  end  to  end  without  his  being  able  to  bring 
a  gun  to  bear  in  return,  except  a  few  bow  or  stern 
chasers. 

American  seamen,  besides  performing  the  ordinary 
duties  of  a  war  ship,  were  constantly  exercised  at  the 
great  guns.  James  says  :  "  Highly  to  the  credit  of  the 
naval  administration  of  the  United  States,  the  crews 
of  their  ships  were  taught  the  practical  rules  of  gun 
nery,  and  ten  shot,  with  the  necessary  powder,  were 
allowed  to  be  expended  in  play  to  make  one  hit  in 
earnest ;  while  the  British  seamen,  except  in  particu 
lar  cases,  scarcely  did  so  once  in  a  year,  and  some 
ships  could  be  named  on  board  of  which  not  a  shot 
had  been  fired  in  this  manner  upward  of  three  years." 
The  superiority  of  American  gunnery  at  this  period 
is  well  known.  In  speaking  of  the  action  between  the 
Enterprise  and  the  Boxer  the  London  Times  of  Octo 
ber  22,  1813,  said:  "What  we  regret  to  perceive  stated, 
and  trust  will  be  found  much  exaggerated,  is  that  the 
Boxer  was  literally  cut  to  pieces  in  sails,  rigging,  spars 


30  THE  DEVELOPMENT  OF  NAVAL   WARFARE.         1814. 

and  hull ;  whilst  the  Enterprise,  her  antagonist,  was 
in  a  situation  to  commence  a  similar  action  immediately 
afterward.  The  fact  seems  to  be  but  too  clearly  estab 
lished,  that  the  Americans  have  some  superior  mode  of 
tiring ;  and  we  can  not  be  too  anxiously  employed  in 
discovering  to  what  circumstance  that  superiority  is 
owing."  Again,  Sir  Edward  Codrington,  writing  to 
Lady  Codrington  in  1814  of  the  Peacock-ftp  ermer  tight, 
said:  "It  seems  that  the  Peacock,  American  sloop  of 
war,  has  taken  our  ftpermer.  Bat  the  worst  part  of 
our  story  is  that  our  sloop  was  cut  to  pieces  and  the 
other  scarcely  scratched."  In  many  cases  the  Ameri 
can  sailors  formed  a  strong  attachment  for  their  guns, 
speaking  to  them  and  treating  them  almost  as  if  they 
were  endowed  with  life,  and  the  frigate  was  never  in 
perfect  order  until  the  "  pets  "  had  received  their  usual 
cleaning  and  polishing.  The  men  gave  each  gun  a 
name,  which  was  engraved  on  a  copper  plate  and  at 
tached  to  its  carriage  or  fastened  over  its  port.  Some 
of  the  most  popular  of  these  names  were:  "Brother 
Jonathan,"  "Raging  Eagle,"  "Polly,"  "Spitfire," 
"Nancy,"  "Jumping  Billy,"  "Yankee  Protection," 
"Mad  Anthony,"  "Liberty  Forever,"  "Sweetheart," 
"America,"  "Defiance,"  "United  Tars,"  "Liberty  or 
Death,"  "Banker  Hill,"  "  Willful  Murder, "  etc. 

In  other  ways  the  Americans  trained  their  crews  to 
be  prepared  for  any  emergency.  Captain  Porter  when 
at  sea  frequently  sounded  the  alarm  of  "Fire!" — an 
enemy  more  dreaded  by  sailors  than  all  the  other  perils 
of  the  sea — at  all  hours  of  the  night  to  accustom  the 
men  to  face  danger,  and  as  a  further  test  he  caused 
smoke  and  flame  to  ascend  from  the  main  hold.  At 
first  there  was  some  confusion  among  the  crew,  but 
the  delinquents  were  promptly  punished  and  soon  the 
alarm  "Fire!"  had  no  terror  for  the  men,  and  they 
went  with  their  cutlasses  and  blankets  to  their  quarters 
in  perfect  self-possession. 

While  the  early  American  commanders  made  many 


1812.  AMERICAN  IMPROVEMENTS  IN  NAVAL  WARFARE.    31 

improvements  in  the  science  of  naval  warfare,  as  they 
found  it  toward  the  close  of  the  eighteenth  century,  it 
is  a  curious  fact  that  every  departure  from  established 
theories  was  hooted  at  by  the  English  press  as  unfair, 
illegitimate  or  ridiculous.  It  is  interesting  to  note, 
however,  that  the  Admiralty  almost  invariably  followed 
the  lead  of  the  Americans  in  this  respect,  and  toward 
the  close  of  the  War  of  1812  paid  us  the  compliment  of 
building  a  frigate  exactly  on  the  plan  of  the  American 
44-gun  ships — which  in  the  early  part  of  the  war  they 
had  ridiculed  as  being  "bundles  of  pine  boards  with  a 
gridiron  flag  floating  over  them  " — as  will  be  seen  from 
the  following  notice  in  the  London  Times  of  March 
17,  1814:  "Sir  Gr.  Collier  was  to  sail  yesterday  from 
Portsmouth  for  the  American  station  in  the  Leander, 
54.  This  ship  has  been  built  and  fitted  out  exactly 
upon  the  plan  of  the  large  American  frigates. ' '  Shortly 
after  the  War  of  1812,  when  the  Constitution  was 
being  fitted  at  Boston  for  a  cruise  in  the  Mediterra 
nean,  she  was  visited  by  a  distinguished  officer  of  the 
royal  navy.  On  returning  to  her  quarter-deck,  after 
having  made  a  thorough  inspection  of  the  frigate,  he 
remarked:  "This  is  one  of  the  finest  frigates,  if  not 
the  very  finest,  I  ever  put  my  foot  aboard  of  ;  but,  as  I 
must  find  fault,  I'll  just  say  that  your  wheel  is  one  of 
the  clumsiest  things  I  ever  saw,  and  it  is  unworthy  of 
the  vessel."  The  American  commander  replied  :  "That 
wheel,  sir,  is  the  only  thing  English  in  the  ship.  When 
this  ship  captured  the  Java,  in  1812,  our  wheel  was 
knocked  into  splinters  by  a  shot  from  the  Englishman. 
After  the  engagement  the  Java's  wheel  was  fitted,  and, 
although  we  think  it  as  ugly  as  you  do,  yet  we  keep  it 
as  a  trophy." 

Among  other  things  of  which  English  writers  "ac 
cused  "  the  Americans  was  the  wearing  of  strips  of  steel 
in  the  sailors'  caps,  to  prevent  saber  cuts  from  penetrat 
ing.  It  is  true  that  some  of  the  American  crews  in  this 
war  were  supplied  with  stout  leather  caps  crossed  with 


32  THE  DEVELOPMENT  OF  NAVAL  WARFARE.         1812. 

two  strips  of  iron,  covered  with  bearskin,  designed  to 
protect  the  head.  The  crew  of  the  Siren  in  1814  was 
provided  with  such  caps,  and  strips  of  bearskin  with 
the  fur  still  attached  were  used  to  fasten  them  on,  and 
coming  down  each  side  of  the  face  they  bore  some  re 
semblance  to  false  whiskers  and  gave  the  men  a  ferocious 
appearance.  But  it  seems  a  little  out  of  place  to  put 
this  in  the  form  of  an  "accusation,"  when  we  remember 
that  Yice- Admiral  John  Benbow,  master  of  the  British 
fleet  under  Admiral  Russell  in  the  battles  of  Barfleur 
and  la  Hogue,  had  his  entire  body  incased  in  metal, 
from  which  we  may  infer  that  the  British  officer  of  that 
period  generally  protected  himself  in  the  same  manner. 
Or  coming  down  to  the  present  time,  we  find  England's 
choicest  cavalry  not  only  wearing  a  helmet  made  of 
steel  but  having  the  body  incased  in  the  same  metal. 
How  much  more  excuse  there  was  for  seamen  to  wear 
armor  than  soldiers  is  clearly  shown  by  Sir  Richard 
Hawkins,  who  said:  uOn  shore  it  is  only  the  bullet 
that  hurteth,  but  in  a  ship  I  have  seen  the  splinters  kill 
and  hurt  many  at  once,"  and  he  cites  an  instance  where 
a  dozen  were  hurt  by  splinters,  uthe  most  part  where 
of,"  he  added,  "would  have  been  excused  if  they  had 
been  armored." 

Another  improvement  in  naval  warfare  of  which 
English  writers  seriously  "accused"  the  early  Ameri 
can  commander  was  the  invention  of  fine  sheet-lead  car 
tridges  which  could  be  handled  with  more  safety  and 
with  greater  rapidity  in  action  than  the  old  paper  or 
flannel  cartridge  of  the  British  service.  This  gave  the 
Americans  an  advantage  equal  almost  to  one  gun  to 
three,  for  as  a  sheet-lead  cartridge  sel'dom  left  a  particle 
of  itself  in  the  gun  there  was  no  time  lost  in  sponging 
and  worming  the  gun  after  firing,  which  was  always 
necessary  when  paper  or  flannel  cartridges  were  used. 
Again,  the  Americans  were  "accused"  of  inventing 
chain  and  bar  shot  and  a  new  kind  of  grapeshot  and 
canister,  which  played  such  havoc  with  British  rigging 


1812.  AMERICAN  IMPROVEMENTS  IN  NAVAL  WARFARE.   33 

in  the  War  of  1812.  The  grapeshot  in  1812  was  formed 
by  seven  or  eight  balls  attached  to  an  iron  and  tied  in 
a  cloth,  which  were  scattered  by  the  explosion  of  the 
powder,  while  the  canister  shot  was  made  by  filling  a 
powder  canister  with  balls  each  as  large  as  two  or  three 
musket  balls.  But  the  fact  that  these  improvements 
were  afterward  introduced  into  the  British  navy  only 
too  well  attests  the  wisdom  of  the  American  command 
ers  in  first  using  them. 


CHAPTER  III. 

THE  OUTBREAK  OF  THE  KEVOLUTTOX. 

ALTHOUGH  open  hostilities  between  the  American 
colonies  and  Great  Britain  began  with  the  battle  of 
Lexington.  April  19,  1775,  it  was  not  until  late  in 
that  year  that  the  Continental  Congress  became  suffi 
ciently  organized  to  take  serious  measures  in  defense  of 
its  claims,  and  it  was  not  until  October  that  attention 
was  given  to  the  formation  of  a  naval  force.  On  the 
5th  of  October,  1775,  news  was  received  that  two  Brit 
ish  transports,  laden  with  arms  and  ammunition,  had 
sailed  from  England  for  Quebec,  and  as  the  Conti 
nental  army  stood  in  great  need  of  such  supplies,  Con 
gress  determined  to  make  an  effort  to  capture  them. 
On  the  13th  of  October,  Silas  Deane,  John  Adams 
and  John  Langdon  (Christopher  Gadsden  afterward 
taking  the  place  of  John  Adams)  were  appointed  a 
committee  with  authority  to  fit  out  two  swift- sailing 
vessels,  one  to  carry  ten  carriage  guns  and  a  propor 
tionate  number  of  swivels,  with  eighty-five  men,  and 
the  other  to  carry  fourteen  guns,  to  cruise  "eastward" 
for  the  purpose  of  intercepting  these  or  any  other 
storeships.  This  was  the  first  official  step  toward  the 
formation  of  a  national  American  navy.  During  the 
Kevolution  the  affairs  of  the  navy  were  managed  by 
various  committees  which  were  known  as  the  ''Marine 
Committee,"  "Marine  Board,"  etc.  Subordinate  to 
these  were  the  "Continental  Naval  Board,"  "Board  of 
Admiralty,"  etc.  The  powers  and  functions  of  these 
committees  were  changed  many  times  during  the  war, 

(34) 


1775.  ENGLISH  CRUISERS  BEGIN  HOSTILITIES.  35 

so  that  it  would  be  tedious  as  well  as  unprofitable  to 
follow  them. 

On  the  30th  of  October,  1775,  it  was  decided  to  fit 
out  two  more  vessels,  one  of  twenty  and  the  other  of 
thirty-six  guns,  and  Stephen  Hopkins,  Joseph  Hewis 
and  Richard  Henry  Lee  were  added  to  the  first  Naval 
Committee,  and  all  matters  pertaining  to  the  marine 
were  referred  to  them,  Congress  reserving  the  final  de 
cision.  Congress  also  held  the  power  of  appointing  the 
commissioned  officers  as  low  as  third  lieutenant,  while 
the  Naval  Committee  selected  all  subordinate  officers. 

Down  to  November,  1775,  Congress  had  not  gone  so 
far  as  to  consider  a  permanent  separation  from  England, 
and  orders  had  been  issued  to  all  armed  forces  both  on 
land  and  on  sea  carefully  to  refrain  from  acts  of  vio 
lence  which  could  be  construed  as  open  rebellion.  But 
British  cruisers  were  not  so  hesitant  in  beginning  hos 
tilities,  and  several  merchantmen  which  had  cleared 
from  port  according  to  all  the  requirements  of  the  acts 
of  Parliament  were  captured  as  lawful  prizes.  The 
flourishing  town  of  Falmouth  (now  Portland)  was  ruth 
lessly  laid  in  ashes,  while  several  other  settlements  were 
attacked  and  the  people  compelled  to  abandon  their 
homes  late  in  the  winter. 

But  these  barbarities  produced  a  far  different  effect 
from  that  which  their  perpetrators  anticipated.  The 
colonial  device  of  a  rattlesnake  and  the  motto  "  Don't 
tread  on  me"  could  not  have  been  in  better  keeping 
with  the  spirit  of  the  people,  for  these  depredations, 
instead  of  overawing  the  colonists,  only  served  to 
arouse  that  indomitable  resistance  which  endured  the 
sufferings  of  a  seven  years'  struggle  against  a  powerful 
adversary.  Seeing  that  the  royalists  did  not  hesitate 
to  resort  to  extreme  measures,  the  Continental  Con 
gress,  on  the  25th  of  November,  1775,  authorized  the: 
capture  of  any  armed  vessel  employed  against  the 
colonies,  or  any  tender  or  transport  engaged  in  carry 
ing  munitions  of  war  to  the  British  army  or  navy. 


3G  THE   OUTBREAK   OF   THE   REVOLUTION.  1775. 

Congress  soon  realized  the  great  advantage  to  be 
derived  from  a  naval  establishment,  and  on  the  13th  of 
December,  at  the  suggestion  of  the  Naval  Committee, 
ordered  the  construction  of  five  ships  of  thirty -two  guns 
each,  five  of  twenty-eight  guns,  and  three  of  twenty- 
four  guns,  to  be  completed  by  the  following  April. 
The  expense  of  building  these  vessels  was  estimated  at 
$866,666.66,  and  they  were  to  be  built  in  the  following 
States  :  One  in  New  Hampshire,  two  in  Massachusetts, 
one  in  Connecticut,  two  in  Khode  Island,  two  in  New 
York,  one  in  Maryland,  and  the  others  at  such  places 
as  the  committee  should  designate.  The  names  of 
these  ships  were  :  Hancock,  Randolph,  RaleigJi,  War 
ren,  Washington,  Congress,  Effingham,  Providence, 
Trumbull,  Virginia,  Boston,  Delaware  and  Montgom 
ery.  Other  laws  were  soon  passed  for  the  purchase 
and  equipment  of  vessels  suitable  for  cruisers.  On 
the  22d  of  the  same  month  the  Naval  Committee  laid 
before  Congress  the  following  list  of  officers,  which 
was  approved :  Esek  Hopkins,  commander  in  chief ; 
Dudley  Saltonstall,  Abraham  Whipple,  Nicholas  Bid- 
die,  John  Burroughs  Hopkins,  captains ;  John  Paul 
Jones,  Rhodes  Arnold,  -  -  Stansbury,  Hoysted  Hack 
er,  Jonathan  Pitcher,  first  lieutenants ;  Benjamin  Sea- 
bury,  Joseph  Olney,  Elisha  Warner,  Thomas  Weaver, 

-  M'Dougall,  second  lieutenants;  John  Fanning, 
Ezekiel  Burroughs,  Daniel  Vaughan,  third  lieutenants.1 
The  pay  of  the  officers  and  petty  officers  was  fixed  as 
follows  :  Commander  in  chief,  $125  a  month.  Officers 

1  The  following  vessels,  purchased  in  1775,  formed  the  nucleus  for  the 
navy  of  the  Revolution,  but  none  of  them  were  built  for  war  purposes ; 
they  were  such  merchantmen  as  could  be  secured  in  the  emergency,  and 
were  pierced  for  guns  and  altered  as  much  as  circumstances  would  allow : 
the  24-gun  ship  Alfred,  the  20-gun  ship  Columbus,  the  16-gun  brig  Lex 
ington,  the  16-gun  brig  Reprisal,  the  14-gun  brig  Cabot,  the  14-guii  brig 
Andrea  Doria,  the  14-gun  brig  Hamden,  the  12-gun  brig  Providence,  the 
10-gun  sloop  Independence,  the  10-gun  sloop  Sachem,  the  10-gun  sloop 
Hornet,  the  8-gun  schooner  Fly,  the  8-gun  schooner  Wasp  and  the  4-gun 
sloop  Mosquito. 


1776.         THE  FIRST  AMERICAN  NAVAL  UNIFORMS.  37 


of  a  ship  of  twenty  guns  and  upward :  captain, 
lieutenant,  $30 ;  master,  $30  ;  surgeon,  $25  ;  chaplain, 
$20  ;  midshipman,  $12  ;  gunner,  $15  ;  seaman,  $8.  Of 
ficers  of  a  ship  of  ten  to  twenty  guns :  captain,  $48  ; 
lieutenant,  $24;  master,  $24;  surgeon,  $21.66;  mid 
shipman,  $12 ;  gunner,  $13  ;  seaman,  $8.  The  pay  of 
the  following  was  the  same  in  any  class  of  cruisers : 
armorer,  $15 ;  sailmaker,  $12  ;  yeoman,  $9  ;  quarter 
master,  $9  ;  quarter  gunner,  $8  ;  coxswain,  $9  ;  cook, 
$12.  Commanders  were  allowed  $4  and  $5  a  week  for 
rations  ;  and  lieutenants,  captains  of  marines,  surgeons 
and  chaplains,  $4  when  on  shore.  Prize  money  coming 
to  the  officers  and  seamen  of  the  Continental  navy  was 
divided  in  shares  :  captains,  6  ;  first  lieutenant,  5  ;  sec 
ond  lieutenant,  4  ;  surgeon,  4  ;  master,  3  ;  steward,  2  ; 
mate,  1J ;  gunner,  \\  ;  boatswain,  1^ ;  gunner's  mate, 
1J ;  sergeant,  1^ ;  privates,  1. 

On  the  9th  of  November,  1775,  Congress  resolved : 
uThat  two  battalions  of  marines  be  raised,  to  be  en 
listed  and  commissioned  to  serve  for  and  during  the 
present  war  between  Great  Britain  and  the  colonies, 
and  to  be  considered  as  a  part  of  the  Continental  army 
before  Boston  ;  particular  care  to  be  taken  that  no 
persons  be  appointed  or  enlisted  into  said  battalions 
but  such  as  are  good  seamen  or  so  acquainted  with 
maritime  affairs  as  to  be  able  to  serve  with  advantage 
at  sea  when  required."  On  the  30th  of  November  these 
battalions  were  ordered  to  be  recruited  independently 
of  the  army  before  Boston. 

On  the  5th  of  September,  1776,  the  Marine  Com 
mittee  decided  that  the  uniform  for  the  officers  of  the 
navy  should  be  as  follows:  Captains,  a  coat  of  blue 
cloth  with  red  lapels,  slashed  cuifs,  a  stand-up  collar, 
flat  yellow  buttons,  blue  breeches  and  a  red  waistcoat 
with  yellow  lace.  The  uniform  for  lieutenants  consist 
ed  of  a  blue  coat  with  red  lapels,  a  round  cuff  faced,  a 
stand-up  collar,  yellow  buttons,  blue  breeches  and  a 
plain  red  waistcoat.  Masters  were  to  have  a  blue  coat 


38  THE  OUTBREAK  OF  THE  REVOLUTION.  1776. 

with  lapels,  round  cuffs,  blue  breeches  and  a  red  waist 
coat  ;  while  the  midshipmen  had  a  blue  coat  with  lapels, 
a  round  cuff  faced  with  red,  a  stand-up  collar,  with  red 
at  the  buttons  and  button  holes,  blue  breeches  and  a 
red  waistcoat.  The  marines  were  to  have  a  green  coat 
faced  with  white,  round  cuffs,  slashed  sleeves  and  pock 
ets,  with  buttons  around  the  cuff,  a  silver  epaulet  on 
the  right  shoulder,  skirts  turned  back,  buttons  to  suit 
the  facings,  white  waistcoat  and  breeches  edged  with 
green,  black  gaiters  and  garters.  The  men  were  to 
have  green  shirts  "if  they  can  be  procured."  In  April 
the  Massachusetts  Council  decided  that  the  officers  of 
the  State  cruisers  should  have  a  uniform  of  "green 
and  white  and  that  they  furnish  themselves  accord 
ingly,  and  that  the  colors  be  a  white  flag  with  a  pine 
tree  and  the  inscription  4  An  Appeal  to  Heaven.' r  It  is 
doubtful,  however,  if  many  of  these  prescribed  uniforms 
were  worn  by  the  officers,  as  their  pay  was  meager  and 
Congress  found  great  difficulty  in  supplying  even  the 
most  necessary  armaments  and  ammunition. 

The  first  naval  effort  of  the  Revolution  was  com 
manded  by  Captain  Esek  Hopkins,  who  is  described  as 
"a  most  experienced  and  venerable  sea  captain."  At 
nine  o'clock  on  a  clear,  frosty  morning  early  in  Janu 
ary,  1776,  this  officer  stepped  into  his  barge  at  the  foot 
of  Walnut  Street,  Philadelphia,  where  a  squadron  of 
eight  cruisers  had  been  collected,  and  amid  the  dis 
charge  of  artillery  and  the  cheers  of  the  multitude  he 
made  his  way  through  the  floating  ice  to  his  flagship, 
the  Alfred.  When  he  gained  the  deck  Captain  Dud 
ley  Saltonstall  gave  the  signal,  and  First  Lieutenant 
John  Paul  Jones  hoisted  a  yellow  silk  flag  bearing  the 
device  of  a  pine  tree  and  a  rattlesnake,  with  the  motto 
"Don't  tread  on  me."  This  was  the  first  flag  hoisted 
on  an  American  man-of-war.  The  "grand  Union  flag," 
or  flag  having  the  thirteen  American  stripes  with  the 
English  union  jack  in  the  field,  was  also  displayed. 
The  destination  of  this  squadron  was  kept  secret,  but 


1776.     THE  EXPEDITION  AGAINST  NEW  PROVIDENCE.        39 

it  was  not  until  the  17th  of  February  that  the  ships 
got  to  sea,  as  they  were  detained  six  weeks  by  the  ice 
off  Reedy  Island.  This  squadron  comprised  the  fol 
lowing  vessels :  The  24-gun  ship  Alfred  (flagship),  Cap 
tain  Dudley  Saltonstall ;  the  20-gun  ship  Columbus, 
Captain  Abraham  Whipple ;  the  14- gun  brig  Andrea 
Doria,  Captain  Mcholas  Biddle ;  the  14-gun  brig 
Cabot,  Captain  John  Burroughs  Hopkins ;  the  12-gun 
brig  Providence,  the  10-gun  sloop  Hornet,  the  8-gun 
schooner  Wasp,  and  the  8-gun  schooner  Fly.  The 
first  of  these  vessels,  the  Alfred,  had  been  a  merchant 
ship  called  the  Black  Prince,  and  arrived  from  Lon 
don  only  a  few  weeks  before  under  the  command  of 
John  Barry,  afterward  a  captain  in  the  navy.  She  was 
a  small  vessel,  but  was  considered  a  stout  ship  of  her 
class,  and  was  named  the  Alfred  after  Alfred  the  Great, 
who  was  commonly  regarded  as  the  founder  of  the 
British  navy.  She  was  armed  with  twenty  9-pounders, 
and  carried  a  few  guns  on  her  quarter-deck  and  fore 
castle.  The  Columbus,  originally  the  merchant  ship 
Sally,  was  named  after  the  discoverer  of  America,  and 
the  Cabot  after  Sebastian  Cabot,  who  discovered  the 
northern  part  of  the  continent.  The  Andrea  Doria 
was  named  after  the  great  Genoese  admiral  of  that 
name,  while  "  the  Providence,"  wrote  John  Adams, 
"was  named  for  the  town  where  she  was  purchased, 
the  residence  of  Governor  Hopkins  and  his  brother 
Esek,  whom  we  appointed  the  first  captain." 

These  vessels  were  to  rendezvous  at  Cape  Henlopen, 
but  on  the  night  of  the  19th  the  Hornet  and  the  Fly 
were  separated  from  the  squadron  and  they  did  not 
again  join  it.  Seeing  nothing  of  Lord  Dunmore's  ships, 
which  had  been  devastating  the  coast,  and  learning 
that  a  quantity  of  military  supplies  were  stored  in  the 
town  of  New  Providence,  which  was  feebly  garrisoned, 
Captain  Hopkins  determined  to  make  an  attack  on  the 
place  and  if  possible  seize  the  stores.  Arriving  at 
Abaco  he  sent  three  hundred  men  in  two  of  the  ves- 


THE   OUTBREAK  OF  THE  REVOLUTION. 


1776. 


sels  to  New  Providence  with  the  view  of  surprising 
the  garrison,  but  off  that  port  tit  was  found  that  the 

place  was  fully  prepared 
for  the  attack.  The  ves 
sels  were  then  re -en 
forced  by  the  Providence 
and  the  Wasp,  a  body  of 
troops  was  landed,  cov 
ered  by  the  guns  of  the 
squadron,  and  the  fort- 


was  carried  by  storm  under  the 
lead  of  Captain  Nicholas  of  the 
marines.  After  holding  the 
place  several  days  Captain 
Hopkins  sailed  away  with  near 
ly  eighty  cannon,  fifteen  bar 
rels  of  gunpowder  and  a  large 
quantity  of  stores,  besides  Gov 
ernor  Brown  and  several  of  the 
more  prominent  inhabitants  of 
the  island,  to  be  held  as  hos 
tages  for  the 
welfare  of  cer 
tain  Ameri 
cans  who  were 
in  the  hands 
of  the  ene 
my.  Govern 
or  Brown  aft 
erward  was  exchanged  for  Lord  Stirling.  On  arriv 
ing  off  the  eastern  end  of  Long  Island,  April  4th,  the 
squadron  captured  the  6-gun  tender  HawTce,  com 
manded  by  a  son  of  Captain  Wallace,  and  on  the  fol 
lowing  day  it  took  the  12-gun  bomb-brig  Bolton,  Lieu 
tenant  Edward  Sneyd. 

A  little  after  midnight,  April  6th,  a  stranger  came 
into  the  squadron  and  the  Cabot  immediately  ranged 
alongside  and  hailed.  This  was  answered  with  a  broad- 


Scene  of  the  naval  operations  of  1776. 


1776.  THE  ESCAPE  OF  THE  GLASGOW.  41 

side,  upon  which,  the  Cabot  opened  fire  and  for  several 
minutes  kept  up  a  close  cannonading.  "The  Cabot 
was  disabled  at  the  second  broadside,  the  cap  tain 'being 
dangerously  wounded,  while  the  master  and  several 
men  were  killed.  The  enemy's  whole  fire  was  then 
directed  at  us  [in  the  Alfred].  .  An  unlucky  shot 
having  carried  away  our  wheel  block  and  ropes,  the 
ship  broached  to  and  gave  the  enemy  an  opportunity 
of  raking  us  with  several  broadsides  before  we  were 
again  in  a  condition  to  steer  the  ship  and  return  their 
fire.  The  second  lieutenant  of  the  marines  was  killed."  * 
The  stranger  proved  too  heavy  for  the  Cabot,  and  the 
latter  withdrew  from  the  unequal  contest.  By  this 
time  the  Alfred  had  closed,  and  the  Providence,  having 
secured  a  position  off  the  enemy's  lee  quarter,  opened 
an  effective  fire.  After  an  hour's  cannonading,  during 
which  the  American  vessels  suffered  considerably,  the 
Alfred  lost  her  wheel  and  became  unmanageable,  and 
the  stranger,  finding  her  antagonists  too  numerous, 
seized  the  opportunity  to  withdraw.  She  afterward 
was  known  to  be  the  20-gun  ship  Glasgow,  Captain 
Tyringham  Howe,  manned  by  a  crew  of  one  hundred 
and  fifty  men  and  boys,  of  whom  she  lost  one  killed 
and  three  wounded.2  The  Continental  Gazette,  in  its 
issue  of  May  29,  1776,  said  :  "  Just  before  the  Glasgow 
came  into  the  harbor  it  was  plainly  perceived  by  the 
holes  in  her  sails  that  she  had  standing,  and  by  the 
hanging  of  her  yards,  that  she  had  been  treated  in  a 
very  rough  manner."  The  Cabot  had  four  killed  and 
seven  wounded,  Elisha  Hinman,  afterward  captain, 
being  among  the  latter.  The  Alfred  had  six  killed  and 
six  wounded,  and  the  Columbus  one  wounded,  making 
a  total  loss  to  the  Americans  of  ten  killed  and  fourteen 
wounded. 

The  escape  of  the  Glasgow  vas  not  due  to  any  lack 


1  Log  book  of  the  Alfred. 

2  Schomberg's  History  of  the  British  Navy,  vol.  i,  p.  427. 

6 


42  THE  OUTBREAK  OP  THE  REVOLUTION.  1776. 

of  spirit  on  the  part  of  the  Americans  but  to  the  want 
of  experienced  officers,  organization  and  discipline. 
Captain  Howe  of  the  Glasgow,  however,  made  a  gallant 
defense  and  won  the  well-deserved  commendation  of 
his  senior  officer.  In  June,  Captain  Hopkins'  conduct 
was  inquired  into  by  Congress,  and  it  was  decided  that 
his  instructions,  which  "  directed  him  to  annoy  the 
enemy's  ships  upon  the  coasts  of  the  Southern  States," 
had  been  exceeded.  On  the  16th  of  October,  1776,  a 
vote  of  censure  was  passed  upon  him,  and  three  days 
later  he  was  ordered  to  take  "command  of  the  fleet 
formerly  put  under  his  care,"  but  afterward  his  name 
was  dropped  from  the  list  of  officers,  and  on  the  2d  of 
January,  1777,  he  was  formally  dismissed  from  the 
service.  The  affair  with  the  Glasgow  for  a  time  ha<J 
an  unfortunate  effect  on  the  seamen.  Many  of  the  sail 
ors  became  discouraged  with  the  prospects  which  the 
navy  offered  them  and  enlisted  in  the  army,  so  that 
it  was  difficult  to  fill  out  the  crews.  The  rank  of  com 
mander  in  chief  of  the  navy  was  intended  to  corre 
spond  with  the  rank  that  Washington  held  in  the 
army,  but  from  the  time  of  the  dismissal  of  Captain 
Hopkins  no  commander  in  chief  of  the  navy  was  ap 
pointed,  that  rank  afterward  being  merged  in  the  office 
of  the  President. 

On  the  23d  of  March,  1776,  Congress  took  more  de 
cisive  measures  against  England.  Letters  of  marque 
were  issued,  and  thenceforth  all  public  and  private 
cruisers  of  the  colonies  were  authorized  to  capture  any 
vessel,  armed  or  unarmed,  sailing  under  the  British 
flag. 

After  the  squadron  under  Captain  Hopkins  had  left 
the  Delaware  the  Lexington,  Captain  John  Barry, 
while  cruising  off  the  Capes  of  Virginia,  April  17th,  fell 
in  with  the  Edward,  Lieutenant  Boucher^  an  armed 
tender  of  the  Liverpool,  mounting  from  six  to  eight 
guns  and  carrying  thirty-five  men.  After  a  spirited 
action  of  an  hour's  duration  the  Edward  surrendered, 


1776.    CAPTURE  AND  RECAPTURE   OF   THE  LEXINGTON.    43 

having  sustained  serious  injuries  and  a  severe  loss  in 
killed  or  wounded.  The  Lexington  mounted  sixteen 
long  4-pounders,  and  out  of  a  crew  of  seventy  lost  two 
killed  and  two  wounded.  In  the  following  October  the 
Lexington,  under  the  command  of  Captain  William 
Hallock,  while  returning  from  the  West  Indies  laden 
with  powder  and  military  stores,  was  captured  by  the 
British  32-gun  frigate  Pearl.  Owing  to  a  high  sea  it 
was  impossible  to  transfer  the  prisoners  to  the  frigate, 
and  the  Pearl,  after  taking  out  four  or  five  men,  placed 
a  prize  crew  aboard  the  Lexington  with  orders  to  fol 
low.  As  night  came  on,  dark  and  boisterous,  the 
American  prisoners,  seventy-five  in  all,  seized  the  op 
portunity,  when  the  British  prize  officers  went  below 
for  a  moment,  to  rise  on  their  captors,  recovered  pos 
session  of  the  vessel,  changed  her  course  and  ran  into 
Baltimore  with  the  British  prize  crew  as  prisoners. 
Richard  Dale,  afterward  celebrated  in  the  BonJwmme 
Richard-Serapis  fight,  was  a  master's  mate  in  the  Lex 
ington  during  this  cruise.  The  British  prize  officer,  an 
acting  lieutenant,  was  dismissed  from  the  royal  navy. 

On  the  9th  of  May  the  8-gun  schooner  Wasp,  while 
cruising  under  the  command  of  Captain  Charles  Alex 
ander,  captured  the  enemy's  bark  Betsey.  A  week 
afterward  the  Andrea  Doria,  Captain  Nicholas  Biddle, 
put  to  sea,  and,  cruising  between  the  Delaware  and  the 
Penobscot,  in  the  course  of  four  months  captured  ten 
vessels,  which  with  one  exception  were  sent  into  port. 
Two  of  the  prizes  were  transports  conveying  four 
hundred  Highlanders.  One  was  recaptured  by  the 
frigate  Cerberus,  while  the  other  was  seized  by  the 
soldiers  aboard,  but  the  latter  was  again  captured. 
When  Captain  Biddle  returned  to  port  he  had  only  five 
of  his  own  crew  aboard,  the  others  having  been  put  in 
charge  of  prizes.  The  Cabot,  Captain  Elisha  Hinman, 
got  to  sea  toward  the  latter  part  of  May  and  cruised  off 
the  northeast  coast  until  the  5th  of  October,  during 
which  time  she  captured  seven  vessels  and  sent  them 


44  THE  OUTBREAK  OF  THE  REVOLUTION.  1776. 

into  port.  Soon  after  the  return  of  Captain  Esek  Hop 
kins'  expedition  from  New  Providence,  the  Columbus, 
Captain  Abraham  Whipple,  got  to  sea  and  cruised 
northward  until  August,  securing  in  that  time  four 
prizes. 

At  the  time  the  Continental  Congress  formally  de 
clared  the  United  States  independent  of  Great  Britain, 
July  4,  1776,  England  had  in  commission  one  hundred 
and  twelve  vessels  of  war,  carrying  three  thousand 
seven  hundred  and  fourteen  guns ;  and  of  this  force, 
seventy-eight  men  of  war,  mounting  two  thousand  and 
seventy-eight  guns,  were  stationed  on  the  coast  of  North 
America.1  The  American  navy  at  the  same  time  con 
sisted  of  twenty-five  cruisers,  mounting  four  hundred 
and  twenty-two  guns  ;  but  only  six  of  these  vessels 
were  built  for  war  purposes,  the  others  being  mer 
chantmen  purchased  and  fitted  out  for  the  occasion.2 


1  Schomberg's  History  of  the  British  Navy,  vol.  iv,  pp.  319-321. 

2  On  the  3d  of  October  Congress  ordered  another  cruiser  and  two  cutters, 
and  in  November  it  authorized  the  construction  of  three  74-gun  ships  of 
the  line,  a  sloop  of  war  and  a  packet.     None  of  the  ships  of  the  line  were 
ever  in  the  American  service.     In  January,  1777,  another  frigate  and  a 
sloop  of  war  were  ordered,  besides  which  eight  prizes  were  fitted  for  the 
service.    Including  the  vessels  purchased  in  1775  and  the  cruisers  ordered 
by  the  law  of  December  13,  1775,  the  navy  at  the  Declaration  of  Inde 
pendence  consisted  of  the  following  vessels :  the  24-gun  ship  Alfred,  the 
20-gun  ship  Columbus,  the  IG-gun  brig  Lexington,  the  16-gun  brig  Reprisal, 
the  14-gun  brig  Cabot,  the  14-gun  brig  Andrea  Doria,  the  14-gun  brig 
JIamden,  the  12-gun  brig  Providence,  the  10-gun  sloop  Independence,  the 
10-gun  sloop  Sachem,  the  10-gun  sloop  Hornet,  the  8-gun  schooner  Fly,  the 
8-gun  schooner  Wasp,  the  4-gun  sloop  Mosquito,  the  32-gun  ship  Hancock, 
the  32-gun  ship  Randolph,  the  32-gun  ship  Raleigh,  the  32-gun  ship  War 
ren,  the  32-gun  ship  Washington,  the  28-gun  ship  Congress,  the  28-gun  ship 
EJfingham,  the  28-gun  ship  Providence,  the  28-gun  ship  Trurribull,  the  28- 
gun  ship  Virginia,  the  24-gun  ship  Boston,  the  24-gun  ship  Delaware,  the 
24-gun  ship  Montgomery,  the  10-gun  cutter  Revenge,  the  10-gun  cutter 
Surprise  and  the  10-gun  cutter  Dolphin. 

Of  these  vessels  the  Washington,  Effingham,  Virginia,  Congress,  Dela 
ware  and  Montgomery  never  got  to  sea,  being  destroyed  when  the  British 
seized  Philadelphia  and  New  York.  The  Virginia,  while  attempting  to 
get  an  offing,  ran  aground  in  Chesapeake  Bay  and  was  there  captured  by  a 


1776.    CAPTURE  OF  THE  BRITISH  CRUISER  RACEHORSE.    45 

Comparative  forces  in  1776. 
American  navy :  25  vessels,  mounting     422  guns. 
British  navy:"     78       «  2,078     " 

Two  days  after  the  Declaration  of  Independence 
the  10-gun  sloop  Sachem,  Captain  Isaiah  Robinson,  en 
gaged  a  British  letter  of  marque  of  six  guns,  and  after 
some  loss  to  both  vessels  the  enemy  struck.  On  return 
ing  to  port  the  Sachem  was  sent  to  the  West  Indies 
with  dispatches,  while  Captain  Robinson  was  trans 
ferred  to  the  command  of  the  Andrea  Doria,  and  in 
December  he  sailed  in  this  brig  for  St.  Eustatius,  to 
transport  arms  and  ammunition  for  the  American  army. 
At  this  port  he  received  a  salute  from  the  Dutch  gov 
ernor,  which  was  the  first  ever  given  to  the  new  flag 
by  a  foreign  power.  The  governor  soon  afterward 
was  removed  for  his  indiscretion.  When  off  the  west 
ern  end  of  Porto  Rico  on  his  return  passage  Captain 
Robinson  discovered  an  English  brig  bearing  down  on 
him.  The  vessels  soon  closed,  and  after  a  desperate 
fight  of  two  hours  the  enemy  surrendered,  the  prize 
proving  to  be  the  British  brig  Racehorse,  Lieutenant 
Jones.  The  Andrea  Dorians  loss  was  four  killed  and 
eight  wounded,  while  that  of  the  Raceliorse  was  con 
siderably  greater,  Lieutenant  Jones  being  mortally 
wounded.  The  Racehorse  had  been  sent  out  for  the 
express  purpose  of  taking  her  captor.  Captain  Rob 
inson  resumed  his  course  for  the  Delaware,  where  he 


British  squadron.    This  left  the  Americans  with  a  seagoing  force  of  twenty- 
five  vessels,  aggregating  four  hundred  and  twenty-two  guns. 

By  a  resolution  of  October  10,  1776,  Congress  declared  that  the  num 
ber  of  captains  in  the  navy  should  be  twenty-four,  and  that  they  should 
rank  in  the  following  order :  James  Nicholson,  John  Manly,  Hector  McNiel, 
Dudley  Saltonstall,  Nicholas  Biddle,  Thomas  Tompson,  John  Barry, 
Thomas  Read,  Thomas  Grennall,  Charles  Alexander,  Lambert  Wickes, 
Abraham  Whipple,  John  Burroughs  Hopkins,  John  Hodge,  William  Hal- 
lock,  Hoysted  Hacker,  Isaiah  Robinson,  John  Paul  Jones,  James  Josiah, 
Elisha  Hinman,  Joseph  Olney,  James  Robinson,  John  Young  and  Elisha 
Warner.  On  the  17th  of  September,  1779,  Samuel  Nicholson  and  John  Nich 
olson,  brothers  of  James  Nicholson,  were  appointed  captains  in  the  navy. 


46  THE  OUTBREAK  OF  THE  REVOLUTION.  1776. 

arrived  with  his  prize  in  safety.  The  Andrea  Dor  la 
was  burned  shortly  afterward  to  prevent  her  falling 
into  the  hands  of  the  British.  In  October  the  Wasp, 
under  command  of  Lieutenant  J.  Baldwin,  made  a 
short  cruise  during  which  she  took  three  prizes. 

The  name  of  John  Paul  Jones  has  been  already 
noticed  in  the  list  of  officers  as  a  first  lieutenant  in  the 
American  navy,  in  which  capacity  he  sailed  in  the 
squadron  under  Captain  Esek  Hopkins  to  New  Provi 
dence.  Returning  from  that  service  he  was  made 
commander  of  the  12-gun  brig  Providence,  and  was 
employed  in  conveying  troops  from  Rhode  Island  to 
New  York.  He  was  frequently  chased  and  several 
times  under  fire,  but  always  escaped  by  skillful  sea 
manship.  At  one  time  he  covered  the  retreat  of  a  brig 
that  was  coming  from  the  West  Indies  laden  with  mili 
tary  supplies  for  Washington's  army,  which  was  hotly 
pursued  by  the  British  frigate  Cerberus,  but  Lieutenant 
Jones  drew  the  enemy  off  in  chase  of  himself,  so  that 
the  brig  escaped.  On  the  10th  of  October,  1776,  he  was 
promoted  to  the  rank  of  captain  and  was  ordered  to 
cruise  between  Boston  and  the  Delaware. 

On  the  1st  of  September,  1776,  while  he  was  engaged 
in  this  service  off  Bermuda,  five  sails  were  made  out  to 
the  windward,  and  he  immediately  beat  up  to  recon- 
noiter.  Selecting  what  he  took  to  be  a  large  merchant 
ship,  Captain  Jones  was  fast  closing  when  he  suddenly 
discovered  that  she  was  the  British  23-gun  frigate  Sole- 
bay.  The  Providence  immediately  bore  up  to  escape 
while  the  Englishman  made  all  sail  in  pursuit,  and  at 
the  end  of  four  hours  succeeded  in  getting  within  mus^ 
ket  shot  of  the  brig's  lee  quarter.  Seeing  that  capture 
was  inevitable  unless  some  extraordinary  expedient 
was  resorted  to,  Captain  Jones  edged  away  until  he 
had  almost  brought  the  frigate  astern,  when  suddenly 
he  put  about  dead  before  the  wind,  with  every  stitch 
of  canvas  set  alow  and  aloft  and  studding  sails  on  both 
sides.  So  unexpected  was  this  manoeuvre  that,  although 


1776.  CAPTAIN  JONES'  DARING  MANOEUVRE.  47 

the  brig  was  obliged  to  pass  within  pistol  shot  of  the 
Englishman,  the  latter  did  not  sufficiently  recover  from 
the  confusion  of  the  moment  to  fire  a  gun  until  the 
Providence  was  out  of  reach  of  his  grape.  Then  began 
another  long  chase,  but  the  brig  proved  her  superiority 
on  this  point  of  sailing  by  gradually  drawing  out  of 
reach  of  the  enemy's  bow  chasers.  By  this  clever  arti 
fice  Captain  Jones  saved  a  ship  to  the  navy  and  drew 
much  attention  to  himself  by  his  bold  and  skillful 
seamanship.  Shortly  afterward  Captain  Jones,  still 
commanding  the  Providence,  was  chased  by  the  32-gun 
frigate  Milford,  but  he  escaped.  Continuing  his  cruise 
he  secured  many  valuable  prizes,  and  running  up  to 
Cape  Canso  he  created  great  havoc  in  the  enemy's 
shipping  besides  destroying  several  fishing  stations. 
The  Providence  returned  to  Newport  October  7th,  hav 
ing  secured  or  destroyed  fifteen  prizes. 

For  these  services  Captain  Jones  was  placed  in  com 
mand  of  the  24-gun  ship  Alfred,  while  the  Providence 
was  given  to  Captain  Hoysted  Hacker.  On  the  2d  of 
November,  1776,  these  vessels  got  under  way  for  a  gen 
eral  cruise  against  the  enemy,  and  on  the  following 
night,  by  skillful  manoeuvring,  they  passed  through 
the  British  squadron  off  Block  Island,  On  the  13th, 
while  off  Cape  Canso,  the  Alfred  fell  in  with  and  after 
a  sharp  action  captured  three  vessels,  one  of  them 
being  the  British  10-gun  transport  MellisTi  carrying 
one  hundred  and  fifty  men.  She  was  found  to  be 
laden  with  supplies  for  General  Burgoyne's  army,  then 
assembling  at  Montreal,  and  among  other  articles  in 
her  were  ten  thousand  suits  of  uniform.  Of  such 
value  to  the  Americans  was  this  capture  that  Captain 
Jones  determined  to  see  his  prize  safely  in  port,  and 
in  case  of  pursuit  to  sink  the  MellisTi  rather  than  let 
the  enemy  recapture  her. 

On  the  following  night,  during  a  snowstorm,  the 
Providence  parted  company,  and  the  Alfred,  having 
captured  a  letter  of  marque  of  sixteen  guns,  made  for 


48  THE  OUTBREAK  OF  THE  REVOLUTION.    1775-1776. 

Boston  with  her  prizes.  When  off  St.  George's  Banks, 
December  7th,  she  was  discovered  by  the  British  32- 
gun  frigate  Milford,  which  two  months  before  had 
chased  Captain  Jones  when  in  command  of  the  Provi 
dence.  At  the  time  the  stranger  was  made  out  she 
was  to  the  windward,  the  dusk  of  evening  making 
her  outlines  somewhat  indistinct.  Captain  Jones  now 
ordered  the  MellisTi  and  the  other  prizes  to  steer  south 
ward  all  night,  regardless  of  any  signals  that  might  be 
given  from  the  Alfred.  About  midnight  he  hoisted  a 
top-light  and  with  the  letter  of  marque  in  company 
tacked  to  the  west,  well  knowing  that  the  prizes  would 
not  alter  their  courses.  The  stratagem  succeeded,  and 
when  day  broke  the  prizes  were  well  below  the  horizon, 
while  the  Milford  was  crowding  all  sail  in  a  vain  en 
deavor  to  come  up  with  the  Alfred.  Having  led  the 
frigate  far  enough  from  the  prizes  the  Alfred  spread 
more  canvas,  and  by  evening  had  run  the  Milford 
out  of  sight,  but  the  letter  of  marque  was  recaptured. 
Captain  Jones  then  made  for  port,  where  he  found  his 
seven  prizes  safely  anchored. 

During  the  war  of  the  Revolution  some  of  the  sea 
board  colonies  fitted  out  cruisers  at  their  own  expense, 
and  although  such  craft  can  not  be  accounted  as  belong 
ing  to  the  United  States  navy,  yet  in  some  instances 
they  performed  valuable  services,  so  that  a  notice  of  the 
better  authenticated  actions  will  not  be  out  of  place. 

The  first  capture  made  by  these  vessels  was  by  the 
Massachusetts  State  cruiser  Lee,  commanded  by  John 
Manly,  who  received  a  commission  from  General  Wash 
ington  to  cruise  in  the  vicinity  of  Boston  for  the  pur 
pose  of  intercepting  supplies  for  the  British  army.  On 
the  29th  of  November,  1775,  the  Lee  entered  Cape  Ann 
Roads  with  the  prize  Nancy  laden  with  two  thousand 
muskets  and  bayonets,  besides  eight  thousand  fuses, 
thirty-one  tons  of  musket  shot,  three  thousand  round 
shot  for  12-pounders,  a  13-inch  mortar,  two  6-pounders, 
several  barrels  of  powder  and  fifty  carcasses  or  great 


1776.  EXPLOITS  OF  STATE  CRUISERS.  49 

frames  for  combustibles  to  set  buildings  on  fire.  On 
the  8th  of  December  this  vessel  captured  three  more 
transports,  and  soon  afterward  she  was  chased  into 
Gloucester  by  the  cruiser  Falcon,  but  by  running  close 
inshore  she  inflicted  considerable  injury  on  her  pursuer 
and  escaped.  For  these  valuable  captures  Mr.  Manly 
received  a  captain's  commission,  April  17,  1776,  and 
was  assigned  to  the  command  of  the  32-gun  frigate 
Hancock.  In  the  following  spring,  1776,  the  Frank 
lin,  commanded  by  James  Mugford,  captured  the 
Hope  and  brought  her  safely  into  port  with  fifteen 
hundred  barrels  of  powder,  a  large  quantity  of  in 
trenching  tools,  gun  carriages  and  other  stores  which 
were  destined  for  the  British  army  ;  all  of  which  were 
forwarded  to  the  troops  under  Washington. 

Early  on  the  morning  of  June  17,  1776,  the  Con 
necticut  State  cruiser  Defense,  commanded  by  Mr. 
Harding,  left  Plymouth,  and  on  hearing  a  desultory 
cannonading  to  the  north  made  all  sail  in  that  direc 
tion.  Toward  evening  she  met  four  American  schoon 
ers  which  reported  that  they  had  had  a  running  fight 
with  two  heavy  British  transports,  which  escaped  into 
Nantasket  Roads.  The  American  vessels  were  the 
Massachusetts  State  cruiser  Lee  of  eight  guns,  under 
the  orders  of  Daniel  Waters,  and  three  privateers. 
Having  arranged  a  plan  of  attack  with  the  command 
ers  of  the  schooners  Mr.  Harding  ran  into  the  Roads, 
and  about  eleven  o'clock  anchored  between  the  two 
transports  within  pistol  shot.  After  hailing  he  or 
dered  them  to  strike.  A  voice  from  one  of  the  trans 
ports  was  heard  in  reply,  "Aye,  aye — I'll  strike,"  and 
immediately  a  broadside  was  poured  into  the  Defense. 
The  Americans  promptly  responded,  and  for  more  than 
an  hour  they  were  engaged  in  a  sharp  cannonade,  when 
the  enemy  surrendered.  The  prizes  were  found  to  con 
tain  about  two  hundred  regular  soldiers  of  the  71st  regi 
ment,  and  among  the  prisoners  was  Lieutenant  Camp 
bell,  commander  of  the  troops.  In  this  affair  the  De- 


50  THE   OUTBREAK   OF  THE  REVOLUTION.  1776. 

fense  had  nine  men  wounded  besides  suffering  con 
siderably  in  her  rigging.  The  transports  had  eighteen 
men  killed  and  many  wounded,  among  the  former  be 
ing  Major  Menzies,  the  officer  who  answered  the  hail 
as  narrated.  On  the  following  morning  the  Americans 
gave  chase  to  a  suspicious  sail  in  the  offing,  and  soon 
overhauled  another  transport  with  one  hundred  men 
from  the  same  regiment.  Thus  three  hundred  men 
from  one  of  the  best  English  regiments  were  captured 
by  these  little  cruisers. 

The  following  account  of  an  audacious  attack  on 
British  transports  is  given  by  Allen  in  his  Battles  of  the 
British  Navy  :  "  On  the  23d  of  November  a  small  fleet 
of  transports  under  convoy  of  the  frigate  Tartar  ar 
rived  off  Boston,  and  with  the  exception  of  two  safely 
entered  the  port.  The  ship  Hunter  and  a  brig,  owing  to 
a  shift  in  the  wind,  were  obliged  to  anchor  outside  the 
harbor,  which  being  observed  by  two  American  priva 
teers  that  had  been  following  the  convoy,  they  in  the 
most  daring  manner  attacked  and  boarded  them,  set 
ting  them  on  fire.  A  signal  was  immediately  made  for 
the  Itaven  to  weigh  anchor  and  go  in  chase,  but  Lieu 
tenant  John  Bourmaster,  who  had  been  appointed  to 
protect  Boston  Lighthouse,  then  under  repair,  and  who 
was  in  command  of  an  armed  transport,  on  observing 
the  privateers  fire  upon  the  Hunter,  set  sail  and  reached 
the  transports  in  time  to  save  them  from  destruction." 

The  vessels  fitted  out  by  the  order  of  General  Wash 
ington  were  the  Hancock,  commanded  by  John  Man- 
ley,  the  first  and  second  officers  being  Richard  Stiles 
and  Nicholas  Ogilby ;  the  Lee,  commanded  by  Daniel 
Waters,  the  first  and  second  officers  being  William 
Kissick  and  John  Gill,  while  the  master  was  John  Des 
mond  ;  the  Franklin,  commanded  by  Samuel  Tucker, 
his  first  and  second  officers  being  Edward  Phittiplace 
and  Francis  Salter ;  the  Harrison,  commanded  by 
Charles  Dyar,  the  first  and  second  officers  being 
Thomas  Dote  and  John  Wigglesworth  ;  the  Lynch, 


1775.     CRUISERS  COMMISSIONED  BY  GEN.  WASHINGTON.     51 

commanded  by  John  Ayers,  the  first  and  second  offi 
cers  being  John  Roche  and  John  Tiley  ;  and  the  War 
ren,  commanded  by  William  Burke.  Elbridge  Gerry 
in  a  letter  to  John  Adams  gives  an  account  of  a  cruise 
of  the  LyncTi,  commanded  by  Nicholas  Broughton, 
and  the  Franklin,  commanded  by  John  Selman,  in 
the  fall  of  1775.  The  Lynch  mounted  six  4-pounders 
and  ten  swivels.  "These  vessels,"  he  wrote,  "were 
ordered  to  the  St.  Lawrence  to  intercept  an  ammunition 
vessel  bound  for  Quebec,  but  missing  her  they  took 
ten  other  vessels  and  Governor  Wright  of  St.  Johns. 
All  of  the  vessels  were  released,  as  we  had  waged  a 
ministerial  war  and  not  one  against  our  most  gracious 
Sovereign."  On  the  14th  of  November,  1775,  Clement 
Lempriere  was  appointed  commander  of  the  ship  Pros 
per,  which  was  being  fitted  out  for  South  Carolina, 
and  on  the  llth  of  the  same  month  the  South  Carolina 
State  schooner  Defense,  while  sinking  some  hulks  in 
Hog  Island  Creek,  Charleston  Harbor,  was  fired  on  by 
the  British  16-gun  ship  Tamar  and  the  6-gun  schooner 
Cherokee.  On  the  21st  of  December,  1775,  North  Caro 
lina  authorized  the  equipment  of  three  armed  vessels 
for  the  protection- of  its  trade,  and  on  the  20th  of  De 
cember  authorized  the  arming  of  the  sloop  Sally  for 
the  defense,  of  the  East  River.  Virginia  also  estab 
lished  a  Board  of  Commissioners  to  superintend  her 
naval  affairs.  In  October,  1775,  two  floating  batteries, 
constructed  in  the  Charles  River  and  propelled  by 
sweeps,  opened  fire  on  Boston  and  damaged  several 
houses  besides  causing  considerable  alarm.  The  bat 
teries  were  constructed  of  heavy  planks  pierced  for 
oars  and  musketry,  and  a  heavy  gun  was  at  each  end, 
while  four  swivels  were  on  top. 

As  Lake  Champlain  at  the  time  of  the  American 
Revolution  afforded  the  only  means  of  inland  com 
munication  between  the  rebelling  colonies  and  Canada, 
that  water  course  became  a  point  of  great  importance, 
and  each  side  made  early  preparations  to  control  it. 


52 


THE  OUTBREAK  OF  THE  REVOLUTION. 


1776. 


The  Royal  Savage,  showing  the  "grand 
Union  flag  "  (from  an  old  water  color). 


On  the  llth  of  October,  1776,  the  opposing  naval  forces 
on  this  lake  met  to  give  battle.  The  American  squad 
ron,  under  the  command  of  General  Benedict  Arnold, 

consisted  of  the  12- 
gun  schooner  Royal 
Savage,  the  10  -  gun 
sloop  Enterprise,  the 
8-gun  schooner  Re 
venge,  the  8-gun  gal 
ley  Trumbull,  the  8- 
gun  galley  Congress, 
the  8  -  gun  galley 
Washington,  the  6- 
gun  galley  Lee,  the 
5-gun  gondola  Spit 
fire,  the  5-gun  gon 
dola  Connecticut,  the 
3-gun  gondola  New 
Haven,  the  3-gun  gon 
dola  Providence,  the  3-gun  gondola  Boston,  the  3-gun 
gondola  Philadelphia,  the  3-gun  gondola  Jersey  and 
the  3-gun  gondola  New  Tor~k. 

This  made  a  total  of  fifteen  vessels  mounting  eighty- 
eight  guns,  the  regular  complement  of  which  was  eight 
hundred  and  eleven  men,  but  at  the  time  of  the  en 
gagement  not  over  seven  hundred  were  on  duty.  The 
greater  portion  of  these  men  were  troops  drafted  from 
the  regiments  at  Ticonderoga  and  were  unfitted  for 
water  service.  General  Arnold,  writing  before  the  bat 
tle,  describes  them  as  follows  :  "  They  are  a  miserable 
set ;  indeed,  the  men  on  board  the  fleet  in  general  are 
not  equal  to  half  their  number  of  good  men."  In  an 
other  letter  he  writes  :  "  We  have  a  wretched,  motley 
crew  in  the  fleet.  The  marines  are  the  refuse  of  every 
regiment,  and  the  seamen,  few  of  them  were  ever  wet 
with  salt  water."  The  officers  of  the  fleet  were  army 
officers,  while  the  vessels  themselves  were  never  intend 
ed  for  serious  fighting. 


1776.  THE   BATTLE   OF  LAKE  CHAMPLAIN.  53 

The  British  squadron,  commanded  by  Captain  Prin- 
gle,  was  far  better  manned  and  equipped.  Three  of 
the  vessels,  the  Inflexible,  the  Maria  and  the  Carleton, 
built  in  England,  were  taken  to  pieces  in  the  St.  Law 
rence  and  transported  to  Lake  Champlain,  reconstruct 
ed  at  St.  Johns  and  fitted  for  service  on  the  lake  ;  while 
the  other  vessels  were  constructed  under  the  "imme 
diate  inspection  of  "  an  English  naval  officer.  The  In 
flexible,  a  ship  of  more  than  three  hundred  tons  bur 
den,  manned  by  sailors  from  the  royal  navy,  alone 
was  sufficient  to  destroy  the  entire  American  flotilla. 
According  to  English  accounts  their  squadron  consisted 
of  the  following  vessels :  The  14-gun  schooner  Maria 
(flagship),  Lieutenant  Starke  ;  the  18-gun  ship  Inflexi 
ble,  Lieutenant  Schank  ;  the  12-gun  schooner  Carleton, 
Lieutenant  Dacres ;  the  14-gun  radeau  Thunderer, 
Lieutenant  Scott ;  the  7-gun  gondola  Loyal  Convert, 
Lieutenant  Longcraft ;  twenty  gunboats  each  carrying 
a  brass  fielclpiece  from  24  to  9 -pounders ;  four  large 
boats  mounting  one  carriage  gun  each ;  twenty-four 
long  boats  with  stores  and  provisions  ;  making  a  total 
of  eighty-nine  guns.  Lieutenant  Dacres  of  the  Carle- 
ton  was  the  father  of  James  R.  Dacres,  the  commander 
of  the  Guerriere  when  captured  by  the  Constitution 
in  1812. 

"  This  flotilla  was  manned  by  a  detachment  of  sea 
men  from  the  King's  ship  and  transports  at  Quebec. 
Their  numbers  amounted  to  eight  officers,  nineteen  petty 
officers  and  six  hundred  and  seventy  picked  seamen,"1 
making  in  all  six  hundred  and  ninety-seven  men  from 
the  regular  navy.  One  hundred  of  these  men  were 
taken  from  the  Isis,  seventy  from  the  Blood,  sixty 
from  the  Triton,  thirty  from  the  Garland,  forty  from 
the  Canceau,  eighteen  from  the  Magdalen,  Brunswick 
and  Gasper,  ninety  from  the  Treasury  and  several 
armed  brigs,  thirty  from  the  Fell,  nine  from  the  Char- 

1  Schomberg's  History  of  the  British  Navy,  vol.  iv,  pp.  323-324. 


THE  OUTBREAK  OF  THE  REVOLUTION. 


1776. 


lotte,  two  hundred  and  fourteen  from  transports,  while 
nine  were  volunteers.  Besides  this  there  were  several 
hundred  Indian  allies,  together  with  a  detachment  of 
regular  troops.  Among  the  English  officers  was  Ed 
ward  Pellew,  afterward  Admiral  Viscount  Exmouth, 
one  of  England's  naval  heroes. 

Early  on  the  morning  of  October  llth  the  enemy's 
ships  were  discovered  passing  Cumberland  Head,  and 
___ ..^^.^^.^.^^^  Arnold  for  the  first  time  learned 

that  he  had  a  ship  of  three 
hundred  tons  to  oppose,  but, 
undaunted  by  this,  that  in 
trepid  officer  made  ready  to 
receive  the  attack.  He  moored 
his  vessels  in  a  small  bay  on 
the  west  side  of  Valcour  Island, 
as  near  together  as  possible, 
and  in  such  a  form  that  few 
vessels  would  be  exposed  to 
the  fire  of  the  whole  fleet.  A 


A,   American   battle  line ; 

B,  British  gunboats;  c,  the    strong     northerly    wind    was 

larger    English    vessels ;     D, 


where  the  Royal  Savage  was 


it 

]t 


rmt  rm 
no1 


burned ;  E,  CumberlancfHead ;  til  the  British  squadron  had 
F,  Pittsburgh ;  G,  Grand  Isl-  .  -,  .  ,,  ^  -  Tr  , 

and.  passed  to  the  south  of  Valcour 

Island  that  they  discovered  the 

Americans,  it  was  impossible  for  their  heavy  ships  to 
beat  back  within  range;  but  by  eleven  o'clock1  their 
gunboats,  with  the  aid  of  their  sweeps  and  the  Carle- 
ton,  came  within  gunshot  and  began  a  heavy  can 
nonading.  By  some  mishap  the  Royal  Savage  and 
the  galleys  had  drifted  beyond  the  support  of  the 
American  line  and  sustained  the  attack  of  the 
gunboats  alone.  One  of  the  masts  of  the  Royal 
Savage  was  wounded  and  her  rigging  was  shot  away 
so  as  to  render  her  unmanageable,  and  she  was  run 
aground  on  Valcour  Island,  where  her  men  es- 


Official  report  of  General  Arnold. 


1776.  THE  BATTLE  OF  LAKE  CHAMPLAIN.  55 

caped.  During  the  night  she  was  burned  by  the 
enemy.1 

General  Arnold  in  his  official  report  says  :  "  At  half 
past  twelve  the  engagement  became  general  and  very 
warm.  Some  of  the  enemy's  ships  and  all  their  gondo 
las  beat  and  rowed  up  within  musket  shot  of  us.  They 
continued  a  very  hot  fire  with  round  and  grapeshot  until 
five  o'clock,  when  they  thought  proper  to  retire  to  about 
six  or  seven  hundred  yards'  distance  and  continued  the 
fire  till  dark."  The  retreat  of  the  British  gunboats 
is  explained  by  Lieutenant  James  Murray  Hadden, 
who  commanded  them,  as  follows  :  "  It  was  found  that 
the  [gun]  boats'  advantage  was  not  to  come  nearer  than 
seven  hundred  yards,  as  whenever  they  approached 
nearer  they  were  greatly  annoyed  by  grapeshot, 
though  their  case  shot  could  do  little  mischief."  Dur 
ing  the  battle  the  Indian  allies  of  the  British  fired  on 
the  American  flotilla  from  the  woods  and  caused  serious 
annoyance.  "  These  savages,"  said  Lieutenant  Hadden, 
"under  Major  Carleton,  moved  with  the  fleet  in  their 
canoes,  which  were  very  regularly  ranged.  On  the 
day  of  the  battle,  the  rebels  having  no  land  force,  the 
savages  took  post  on  the  mainland  and  on  Valcour 
Island.  Thus  being  upon  both  flanks  they  were  able 
to  annoy  them  in  the  working  of  their  guns.  This  had 
the  effect  of  now  and  then  obliging  the  rebels  to  turn 
a  gun  that  way,  which  danger  the  savages  avoided  by 
getting  behind  trees." 

About  five  o'clock  Captain  Pringle,  having  made 
several  unsuccessful  attempts  to  bring  his  larger  ships 
into  action,  gave  the  signal  of  recall  and  anchored  his 
fleet  in  a  line  just  out  of  gunshot,  intending  to  renew 
the  action  on  the  morrow.  * '  The  Thunderer  lay  at 
the  right  of  the  line,  a  little  south  of  Garden  Island, 
the  schooner  Maria  on  the  left  near  the  mainland, 


1  She  sank  near  the  present  site  of  Hotel  Champlain.     Her  hull  can  be 
seen  at  low  water. 


56  THE  OUTBREAK  OF  THE   REVOLUTION.  1776. 

while  the  Loyal  Convert  and  the  Inflexible  occupied 
intermediate  positions.  The  Carleton  and  gunboats 
were  anchored  near  the  other  vessels."1 

In  this  first  day's  fight  General  Arnold  commanded 
the  Congress,  and  he  fought  with  characteristic  cour 
age.  Toward  the  end  of  the  action  he  pointed  almost 
every  gun  with  his  own  hands  and  cheered  his  men  by 
his  example.  His  flagship  received  seven  shot  between 
wind  and  water ;  she  was  hulled  twelve  times,  and 
her  mainmast  was  wounded  in  two  places  and  the  yard 
in  one  place.  The  Washington  was  commanded  by 
General  Waterbury,  who  fought  on  the  quarter-deck 
of  his  ship  with  conspicuous  bravery,  and  at  the  end 
of  the  action  he  was  the  only  officer  on  duty,  the  first 
lieutenant,  the  captain  and  the  master  being  killed. 
His  ship  was  hulled  several  times,  and  her  mainmast 
was  so.  injured  as  to  require  a  new  one.  Both  the  Con 
gress  and  the  Washington  were  leaking  badly.  The 
Trumbult,  commanded  by  Colonel  Wigglesworth,  was 
severely  damaged,  while  the  New  York  lost  all  of  her 
officers  except  her  commander,  Captain  Lee ;  and  the 
Philadelphia,  Captain  Grant,  was  so  riddled  with  shot 
that  she  sank  one  hour  after  the  engagement.  General 
Arnold  in  his  official  report  places  the  total  loss  to  the 
Americans  in  the  first  day's  action  at  "  about  sixty." 
On  the  part  of  the  English,  eight  men  were  killed  and 
six  wounded  in  the  Carleton,  while  two  of  their  gun 
boats  were  sunk  and  one  was  blown  up  with  a  number 
of  men  aboard.  Captain  Pringle  reported  that  his 
losses  did  not  "  amount  to  forty." 

Having  expended  three  fourths  of  his  ammunition 
and  "being  sensible  of  the  inferiority  of  his  force,"2 
General  Arnold  determined  to  steal  through  the  Eng 
lish  line  at  night,  in  hopes  of  reaching  Crown  Point. 
At  seven  o'clock  in  the  evening  Colonel  Wigglesworth 


Palmer's  History  of  Lake  Champlain. 

Schomberg's  History  of  the  British  Navy,  vol.  i,  p.  431. 


1776. 


THE   BATTLE  OF  LAKE  CHAMPLAIN. 


57 


began  the  retreat  with  the  Trumbull  and  directed  her 
course  toward  the  upper  end  of  the  lake.  He  was  fol 
lowed  by  the  Enterprise  and  the 
Lee  with  the  gondolas,  and  about 
ten  o'clock  General  Waterbury 
started  in  the  Washington,  fol 
lowed  by  General  Arnold  in  the 
Congress.  In  this  order,  with  a 
light  at  the  stern  of  each  vessel, 
the  squadron  passed  to  Schuyler 
Island,  about  nine  miles  distant, 
where  it  arrived  early  next  morn 
ing.  General  Arnold  now  found 
that  two  of  the  gondolas  were  so 
badly  injured  that  he  sunk  them, 
and  having  fitted  np  the  other 
vessels  as  well  as  his  limited  time 
and  means  would  allow  he  again 
made  sail  for  Crown  Point. 

The  enemy  discovered  the  es 
cape  on  the  following  morning 
and  immediately  set  out  in  pur 
suit.  Thursday,  October  12th, 
was  taken  up  with  the  chase,  and 
it  was  not  until  noon  of  the  13th, 
just  after  Arnold's  vessels  had 
passed  Split  Rock,  that  the  ene 
my  again  came  within  gunshot. 
By  this  time  the  American  vessels  were  much  scat 
tered,  and  the.  crews  also  had  become  so  reduced  in 
numbers  that  the  officers  were  compelled  to  load  and 
point  the  guns  with  their  own  hands.  The  Congress 
and  the  Washington  now  made  a  rally  to  cover  the 
flight  of  the  remaining  vessels.  The  latter  was  at 
tacked  by  the  Maria,  commanded  by  Captain  Prin- 
gle  in  person,  and  the  Inflexible,  and  struck  after  a 
few  shot  had  been  exchanged.  General  Waterbury 
and  his  surviving  men  were  taken  prisoners.  These 
7 


Lake  Champlain. 


58  THE  OUTBREAK  OF  THE  REVOLUTION.  1776. 

two  English  vessels  then  joined  the  Carleton  in  the 
pursuit  of  the  Congress,  and  for  two  hours  they  kept 
up  a  running  fight.  When  about  ten  miles  from 
Crown  Point  General  Arnold  was  so  hard  pressed  that 
he  ran  the  Congress  and  four  gondolas  into  Panton 
Bay,  on  the  east  side  of  the  lake,  and  after  removing 
all  the  small  arms  he  destroyed  the  vessels  and  escaped 
with  his  men  in  the  woods,  and  then  made  his  way 
to  Crown  Point.  Two  hours  afterward  the  woods  at 
this  point  were  filled  by  the  Indian  allies  of  the  English, 
who  would  have  made  Arnold's  escape  more  hazard 
ous.  In  the  meantime  the  Enterprise,  the  Revenge, 
the  Trumbull  and  one  gondola  had  reached  places 
of  safety,  while  the  galley  Lee,  Captain  Davis,  ran  in  a 
bay  on  the  east  side  of  the  lake  above  Split  Rock, 
where  she  was  blown  up.  The  only  vessels  the  enemy 
captured  were  the  Washington  and  the  gondola  Jersey. 
In  the  second  day's  fight  the  Congress  lost  her  first 
lieutenant  and  three  men.  The  total  American  loss  in 
killed  or  wounded  in  the  two  days'  fight  was  u  eighty 
odd,"1  while  that  of  the  English  was  "  about  forty. "a 
One  great  disadvantage  under  which  the  Americans 
labored  was  that  of  having  several  different  calibers  in 
the  same  vessel.  The  Washington,  for  instance,  was 
armed  with  one  18-pounder,  one  12-pounder,  two  9- 
pounders  and  six  4-pounders,  which  caused  great  con 
fusion  in  loading  the  guns,  and  in  the  excitement  of 
action  seriously  detracted  from  her  efficiency.  Each 
English  vessel,  on  the  other  hand,  had  the  same  caliber 
throughout  its  armament — the  Thunderer  alone  ex- 
cepted,  she  having  six  24-pounders,  six  12-pounders 
and  two  howitzers.  Sir  Guy  Carleton  treated  his  pris 
oners  with  great  kindness,  ordering  that  the  American 
wounded  should  receive  the  same  attention  as  the 
English.  On  the  14th  of  October  they  were  accompa- 


1  Official  report  of  General  Arnold. 
8  Official  report  of  Captain  Pringle. 


1776.  THE  BATTLE  OF   LAKE   CHAMPLAIN.  59 

nied  to  Ticonderoga  by  Captain  (afterward  Sir  James) 
Craigh,  where  they  were  released  on  parole. 

Comparative  force  and  loss. 

Vessels.       Guns.  Men.  Loss. 

American  flotilla:        15          88  700          u 80  odd." 

British  flotilla:  25          89          1000          "About  40." 

The  results  of  this  naval  engagement,  notwithstand 
ing  the  defeat  of  Arnold's  flotilla,  were  highly  advan 
tageous  to  the  cause  of  the  colonists.  It  convinced 
the  enemy  that  the  Americans  were  in  earnest,  and, 
what  was  more,  knew  how  to  fight — a  point  which  had 
been  gravely  debated  at  British  mess-tables  and  in 
London  drawing-rooms.  Sir  Guy  Carleton  occupied 
Crown  Point,  which  had  been  abandoned  and  de 
stroyed  by  the  Americans  after  the  naval  engagement, 
and  on  the  27th  of  October  he  advanced  against  Ti 
conderoga,  but  after  exchanging  a  few  shot  he  retreated 
to  Crown  Point,  and  on  the  3d  of  November  took  up 
the  march  for  winter  quarters  in  Canada. 

During  the  year  1776  British  commerce  suffered 
heavy  losses  at  the  hands  of  American  cruisers  and 
privateers.  The  London  Remembrancer  of  that  period 
declared  that  the  damage  to  the  West  India  trade 
alone  amounted  to  nearly  two  million  dollars.  The 
total  number  of  vessels  captured  by  the  Americans  in 
1776  was  three  hundred  and  forty-two,  of  which  forty- 
four  were  recaptured,  eighteen  released,  and  five  were 
burned. 


CHAPTER   IV. 

THE   AMEKICAN   NAVY   IN   EUKOPE. 


better  illustrates  the  spirit  and  patriotism 
of  the  colonists  than  the  manner  in  which  they  carried 
the  war  for  independence  into  the  enemy's  country. 
When  England  determined  to  coerce  the  refractory 
Americans  she  little  thought  that  she  was  inviting 
danger  to  her  own  doors,  her  idea  of  an  American  war 
being  a  somewhat  expensive  transportation  of  German 
mercenaries  across  the  Atlantic,  where  the  dispute 
would  be  settled  in  a  wilderness,  far  removed  from  any 
possible  chance  of  interference  with  British  interests  in 
other  parts  of  the  world.  The  British  merchant  looked 
forward  to  the  war  with  no  small  degree  of  complacen 
cy,  for  in  spite  of  the  provisions  of  the  Navigation 
Acts,  which  were  designed  especially  to  protect  him 
from  colonial  competition,  he  already  keenly  felt 
American  rivalry  for  the  carrying  trade  of  the  world. 
It  would  cost  several  million  pounds  annually  to  send 
Hessians  to  America,  but  this  would  be  more  than  made 
good  by  the  British  merchant  securing  the  colonist's 
share  of  commerce. 

This  was  the  view  generally  taken  by  Englishmen 
before  hostilities  began  ;  but  had  they  anticipated  that 
American  cruisers  would  cross  the  Atlantic  and  throw 
their  coasts  into  continual  alarm,  that  their  shipping 
even  in  their  own  harbors  would  be  in  danger,  that  it 
would  be  unsafe  for  peers  of  the  realm  to  remain  at 
their  country  seats,  that  British  commerce  would  be 
almost  annihilated  and  that  sixteen  thousand  British 
seamen  would  be  captured,  they  would  have  entered 

(60) 


1776. 


CRUISERS  SAIL  FOR  EUROPE. 


61 


upon  a  coercive  policy  with  far  greater  hesitancy. 
Without  her  ships  and  seamen  England  would  be  re 
duced  to  one  of  the  least  of  the  European  powers,  and 
while  she  could  afford  to  lose  a  few  thousand  Hessians, 
the  loss  of  her  maritime  ascendancy  touched  her  to  the 
quick. 

American  naval  enterprise  in  European  waters  dur 
ing  the  Revolution,  from  the  appearance  of  the  first 
American  war  vessel  to  the  cruise  of  the  squadron 
under  Captain  John  Paul  Jones,  was  unexampled  in 
daring  and  success.  The  first  American  cruiser  to 
show  herself  on  the  other  side  of  the  Atlantic  was  the 
16-gun  brig  Reprisal,  Captain  Lambert  Wickes.  Early 
in  the  summer  of  1776  this  little  vessel  was  dispatched 

to  Martinique  for 
the  purpose  of 
transporting  mili 
tary  stores  to  Amer 
ica.  When  nearing 
her  port  she  was 
attacked  by  the  16- 
gun  sloop  of  war 
Shark,  Captain 
Chapman,  but  after 
a  severe  action  she  succeeded 
in  driving  her  assailant  off 
and  resumed  her  course.  In 
the  autumn  of  1776  the  Re 
prisal  was  placed  under  the 
command  of  Captain  Lambert 
Wickes,  who  received  orders 
to  convey  Dr.  Franklin  to 
France.  Taking  two  prizes 
on  the  passage  over,  the  Reprisal  reached  Nantes  and 
landed  her  distinguished  passenger  in  safety.  Here  she 
refitted  and  sailed  for  the  Bay  of  Biscay,  where  she 
captured  two  vessels,  one  of  which  was  the  King' s 
packet  plying  between  Falmouth  and  Lisbon.  When 


European  waters. 


62  THE  AMERICAN  NAVY  IN  EUROPE.  1777. 

these  prizes  were  brought  to  Nantes  the  English  agents 
protested  so  vehemently  that  great  caution  became 
necessary  in  disposing  of  them,  and  they  were  secretly 
taken  into  the  offing  and  sold  to  French  merchants. 
The  proceeds  were  handed  over  to  the  American  com 
missioners  in  Europe  and  materially  assisted  them  in 
their  negotiations  in  behalf  of  the  struggling  colonies. 

These  commissioners,  from  the  first,  urged  the  ad 
visability  of  stationing  a  naval  force  near  the  coasts  of 
Great  Britain.  "We  have  not  the  least  doubt,"  wrote 
Dr.  Franklin,  "but  that  two  or  three  of  the  Conti 
nental  frigates  sent  into  the  German  Ocean,  with  some 
less  swift- sailing  cruisers,  might  intercept  and  seize  a 
great  part  of  the  Baltic  and  Northern  trade.  .  .  . 
One  frigate  would  be  sufficient  to  destroy  the  whole 
of  the  Greenland  whale-fishery  or  take  the  Hudson 
Bay  ships  returning." 

The  Marine  Committee  acted  on  this  advice,  and  in 
April,  1777,  the  Reprisal  was  joined  by  the  Lexing 
ton,  Captain  Henry  Johnston.  The  American  agents 
also  purchased  a  10-gun  cutter  called  the  Dolphin, 
which  was  placed  under  the  orders  of  Lieutenant  Sam 
uel  Nicholson,  brother  of  Captain  James  Nicholson. 
In  June  this  little  squadron,  under  command  of  Cap 
tain  Lambert  Wickes,  sailed  from  Nantes  and  ventured 
in  British  waters.  After  a  short  cruise  in  the  Bay  of 
Biscay  the  vessels  made  two  circuits  of  Ireland,  caus 
ing  great  havoc  in  the  enemy's  commerce  and  alarm 
ing  the  entire  coast.  After  securing  fifteen  prizes  the 
cruisers  returned  to  France,  but  when  nearing  the  coast 
they  were  chased  by  a  British  line  of  battle  ship,  and 
the  Reprisal  was  so  hard  pressed  that  she  was  obliged 
to  saw  away  her  bulwarks  and  some  of  her  timbers,  be 
sides  throwing  her  guns  overboard.  When  the  ships 
regained  port  the  captures  were  clandestinely  disposed 
of  to  French  merchants.  This  aroused  a  greater  storm 
of  opposition  from  the  English  agents  than  before,  and, 
as  the  King  had  not  openly  declared  war,  some  appear- 


1777.     ACTION  BETWEEN  THE  LEXINGTON  AND  ALERT.     63 

ance  of  neutrality  had  to  be  made  in  order  to  avoid 
actual  hostilities.  The  Reprisal  and  the  Lexington 
accordingly  were  held  until  security  was  given  that 
they  would  quit  France,  while  the  prizes  were  ordered 
to  leave  port.  The  latter  were  taken  into  the  offing 
and  sold  as  before. 

According  to  the  agreement,  the  Lexington  refitted 
and  sailed  from  Morlaix  on  the  18th  of  September.  The 
second  day  out  she  fell  in  with  the  British  man-of-war 
Alert,  Lieutenant  Bazely  (afterward  Admiral),  of  "ten 
guns,  ten  swivels  and  sixty  men."1  The  vessels  im 
mediately  closed  and  began  a  heavy  cannonade,  which 
was  maintained  with  great  spirit  for  two  hours  and  a 
half,  but  the  high  sea  and  the  lightness  of  the  craft 
rendered  the  fire  less  effective.  So  unprepared  were 
the  Americans  for  battle  that  at  first  no  matches  were 
ready,  and  several  broadsides  were  fired  by  discharging 
muskets  at  the  vents  of  the  cannon.  The  Lexington 
also  had  sailed  with  a  short  supply  of  powder  and 
shot.  At  the  end  of  two  and  a  half  hours  of  cannon 
ading  the  Lexington  had  crippled  her  antagonist's  rig 
ging,  but  in  so  doing  had  used  up  nearly  all  of  her 
powder.  Captain  Johnston  then  took  advantage  of 
his  opponent's  condition  and  by  setting  all  sail  drew 
out  of  range,  but  the  Alert  repaired  her  injuries  and 
after  a  chase  of  four  hours  succeeded  in  getting  along 
side.  The  Lexington  soon  used  up  the  remainder  of 
her  ammunition  and  forthwith  a  one-sided  action  en 
sued.  For  an  hour  the  Americans  received  the  fire  in 
silence,  hoping  some  accident  would  befall  the  enemy's 
rigging,  but  at  the  end  of  that  time,  seeing  that  further 
resistance  was  useless — his  first  lieutenant,  marine  offi 
cer  and  sailing  master  being  killed  and  many  of  his 
men  wounded — Captain  Johnston  hauled  down  his 
flag.  The  Lexington  was  armed  with  sixteen  4-pound- 
ers.  The  Alert,  according  to  English  accounts,  lost 

1  Schomberg's  History  of  the  British  Navy,  vol.  i,  p.  440. 


64:  THE  AMERICAN  NAVY  IN  EUROPE.  1777. 

two  killed  and  three  wounded.  The  Lexington  was 
taken  to  Plymouth,  and  her  men  were  thrown  into  Mill 
Prison  on  a  charge  of  high  treason.  Here  they  were 
treated  with  great  brutality,  and  on  one  occasion  they 
were  so  reduced  by  want  of  food  that  they  killed  a 
stray  dog,  cooked  it  and  ate  it  with  a  relish.  After 
some  months  of  imprisonment  the  Americans  effected 
their  escape  by  digging  a  hole  under  the  prison,  carry 
ing  away  the  dirt  from  day  to  day  in  their  pockets, 
and  got  aboard  a  vessel  in  London  bound  for  Dunkirk, 
when  they  were  discovered  by  a  press-gang  and  re 
turned  to  prison.  About  a  year  later  Richard  Dale, 
who  had  been  master's  mate  in  the  Lexington,  made 
his  escape  by  boldly  walking  past  the  guards  in  broad 
daylight,  dressed  in  a  British  uniform.  Dale  refused 
to  reveal  how  he  secured  this  dress  to  the  day  of  his 
death.  The  Reprisal,  which  sailed  soon  after  the  Lex 
ington,  foundered  off  the  Banks  of  Newfoundland  on 
her  homeward  passage  and  all  hands  but  one  perished. 

The  loss  of  the  Lexington  and  the  Reprisal  left  the 
other  side  of  the  Atlantic  without  an  American  war 
vessel,  but  the  results  of  Captain  Wickes'  cruises  wrere 
so  encouraging  that  our  commissioners  immediately 
took  measures  to  secure  other  vessels.  In  the  spring 
of  1777  an  agent  was  sent  to  Dover  to  purchase  a  fast- 
sailing  vessel,  and  a  cutter  was  brought  over  to  Dun 
kirk,  where  she  was  equipped  and  armed  as  a  vessel  of 
war  under  the  name  of  the  Surprise. 

The  character  of  these  vessels  fitted  out  in  Europe 
has  been  misunderstood  by  English  writers  and  by 
some  American  historians.  The  president  of  the  Con 
tinental  Congress,  John  Hancock,  had  authorized  the 
American  commissioners  in  Europe  to  purchase  and  fit 
out  such  craft  as  the  Surprise  for  the  purpose  of  prey 
ing  on  the  commerce  of  Great  Britain,  and,  in  order 
that  these  vessels  might  sail  in  the  capacity  of  national 
cruisers,  blank  commissions  were  placed  in  the  hands  of 
our  representatives,  to  be  filled  out  at  their  discretion. 


1777.  CONNYNGHAM  SAILS   FROM   DUNKIRK.  65 

Such  a  commission,  dated  March  1,  1777,  issued  by 
Dr.  Franklin  and  Silas  Deane,  was  filled  out  for  Cap 
tain  Gustavus  Connynghani,  commander  of  the  Sur 
prise,  authorizing  him  to  sail  as  a  captain  in  the  Ameri 
can  navy,  and  investing  the  Surprise  with  all  the 
requisites  of  a  national  cruiser,  so  far  as  the  Ameri 
cans  were  concerned. 

Having  made  up  a  crew  Captain  Connynghani  sailed 
from  Dunkirk  on  the  1st  of  May,  but  it  was  only  by  a 
good  deal  of  intrigue  that  the  Surprise  was  enabled  to 
get  to  sea.  Captain  Connynghani  "took  his  arms  out 
of  his  ship  and  said  he  should  load  it  with  merchandise 
for  one  of  the  ports  in  Norway.  As  this  declaration 
was  suspected,  security  was  demanded.  Two  persons, 
Hodge  and  Allen,  became  responsible  for  him.  Con 
nynghani  actually  left  the  port  of  Dunkirk  without 
arms,  but  he  caused  sailors,  cannon  and  ammunition  to 
be  sent  out  to  him  in  the  night  while  he  was  in  the 
ship's  Road  off  Dunkirk.  As  soon  as  this  manoeuvre 
came  to  the  knowledge  of  the  French  Government, 
Hodge,  one  of  the  securities,  was  arrested  and  con 
ducted  to  the  Bastille,  and  the  prize,  which  the  Sur 
prise  soon  afterward  captured,  was  returned  to  the 
British  Government  without  the  form  of  a  process. 
After  six  weeks  of  confinement  Hodge  was  released."  1 

The  third  day  after  leaving  Dunkirk  Captain  Con- 
nyngham  gave  chase  to  a  sail  and  soon  overhauled  the 
British  merchant  ship  Joseph,  after  which  he  cruised 
along  the  coast  of  Holland  until  the  7th,  when  he  fell 
in  with  the  English  packet  Prince  of  Orange.  The 
presence  of  an  American  cruiser  in  these  waters  was  so 
unexpected  that  it  was  not  until  Captain  Connynghani 
had  run  alongside  and  boarded  that  the  Englishman 
realized  that  he  was  in  the  presence  of  a  hostile  vessel. 
Knowing  that  the  Channel  was  frequented  by  British 
cruisers  and  believing  that  the  packet  contained  valu- 

1  Sparks'  Diplomatic  Correspondence,  vol.  i,  p.  292,  note. 


60  THE  AMERICAN  NAVY  IN  EUROPE.  1777. 

able  dispatches,  Captain  Connyngham  returned  to 
Dunkirk. 

On  hearing  of  this  capture  the  English  ambassador 
threatened  to  leave  the  country  if  the  Surprise  and  her 
prize  were  not  immediately  given  up.  As  France  was 
not  prepared  for  war  the  ministers  were  constrained  to 
seize  the  vessels  and  imprison  Captain  Connyngham 
and  his  men.  Not  satisfied  with  this  the  British  Gov 
ernment  demanded  that  these  men  should  be  given  up 
to  be  tried  as  pirates,  and  sent  over  two  sloops  of  war 
for  the  purpose  of  taking  them  to  England  ;  but  before 
the  sloops  arrived  Captain  Connyngham  had  sailed  on 
another  expedition. 

The  American  agents  were  indefatigable  in  their 
efforts  to  replace  the  Surprise  and  soon  secured  another 
cutter,  the  Revenge,  carrying  fourteen  6-pounders  and 
twenty-two  swivels  with  one  hundred  and  six  men,  and 
Captain  Connyngham  and  his  men,  having  been  re 
leased  "  with  some  address  and  intrigue,"  l  managed  to 
get  to  sea  in  her.  The  Revenge  proved  a  remarkably 
successful  vessel,  taking  prizes  daily,  many  of  which 
were  sent  to  Spain  and  sold  to  merchants  ;  the  proceeds 
thus  realized  affording  much-needed  assistance  to  the 
American  commissioners  in  urging  the  cause  of  the  col 
onies  before  the  French  ministry  and  in  furthering  their 
operations  against  the  British  Government.  The  money 
advanced  to  Mr.  Adams  for  traveling  expenses  when  he 
landed  in  Spain  from  the  French  frigate  la  Sensible,  a 
year  or  two  later,  was  derived  from  this  source.  The 
Revenge  was  now  in  need  of  repairs,  and  fearing  to  take 
her  into  a  French  port  lest  she  might  again  be  detained, 
Captain  Connyngham  resorted  to  one  of  those  daring 
expedients  for  which  the  American  navy  is  renowned. 
Disguising  his  cutter  as  well  as  his  limited  stores  would 
allow,  he  boldly  entered  an  English  port,  thoroughly 
refitted,  and  sailed  again  without  arousing  the  first 

1  Silas  Deane  to  Robert  Morris,  August  23,  1777. 


1777-1778.       THE  AUDACITY  OF  AMERICAN  CRUISERS.          67 

suspicion  as  to  his  identity.  Encouraged  by  this  he 
shortly  afterward  entered  an  Irish  port,  where  he  laid 
in  a  full  supply  of  provisions,  paid  for  them  with  bills 
on  his  agents  in  Spain,  and  again  sailed  unmolested. 
The  audacity  of  these  exploits  will  be  better  under 
stood  when  we  remember  that  by  this  time  Captain 
Connyngham  and  his  cutter  had  obtained  wide  notori 
ety  in  Great  Britain,  especially  among  the  seafaring 
classes.  The  Revenge  continued  her  depredation  on 
the  enemy's  commerce  for  several  weeks  after  this, 
when,  having  made  a  cruise  of  unprecedented  success, 
she  refitted  in  Ferrol  and  sailed  for  America. 

The  daring  and  success  of  these  several  expeditions 
along  the  enemy's  coasts  struck  terror  into  the  heart  of 
the  British  merchant.  Mr.  Deane  wrote:  "It  effect 
ually  alarmed  England,  prevented  the  great  fair  at 
Chester,  occasioned  insurance  to  rise,  and  even  deterred 
the  English  merchant  from  shipping  goods  in  English 
bottoms  at  any  rate  of  insurance,  so  that  in  a  few  weeks 
forty  sail  of  French  ships  were  loading  in  the  Thames 
on  freight — an  instance  never  before  known.  .  .  .  In 
a  word,  Connyngham,  by  his  first  and  second  bold  ex 
peditions,  is  become  the  terror  of  all  the  eastern  coast 
of  England  and  Scotland,  and  is  more  dreaded  than 
Thurot  was  in  the  late  war."  The  English  ministry 
denounced  the  character  of  the  Surprise  and  Revenge 
as  piratical,  and  demanded  that  Captain  Connyngham, 
as  the  commander  of  such  vessels,  should  be  given  over 
to  the  British  authorities.  In  the  following  year  he 
was  captured,  and  treated  with  such  severity  that  Con 
gress,  by  a  resolution  of  July  17,  1778,  formally  de 
manded  the  reason  for  his  being  "  treated  in  a  manner 
contrary  to  all  the  dictates  of  humanity  and  the  prac 
tice  of  civilized  nations,"  and  in  case  of  an  unsatis 
factory  answer  the  Marine  Committee  was  ordered  to 
"immediately  cause  to  be  confined,  in  close  and  safe 
custody,  such  and  so  many  persons  as  they  may  think 
proper  in  order  to  abide  the  fate  of  said  Gustavus 


68  THE  AMERICAN  NAVY  IN  EUROPE.       1778,  1777. 

Connyngham."  On  the  13th  of  the  following  Decem 
ber  one  Christopher  Hale  was  detained  from  an  ex 
change  of  prisoners,  Congress  declaring  that  he  would 
suffer  the  fate  of  Captain  Connyngham. 

The  loss  of  the  Surprise  and  the  departure  of  the 
Revenge  for  America  did  not  check  American  enterprise 
in  European  waters.  Toward  the  latter  part  of  August, 
1777,  the  32-gun  frigate  Raleigh,  Captain  Thomas 
Thompson,  and  the  24-gun  ship  Alfred,  Captain  Elisha 
Hinman,  sailed  in  company  for  France  to  transport 
military  supplies  for  the  American  army  and  to  harass 
the  enemy's  commerce.  On  the  2d  of  September  they 
overhauled  a  small  vessel  named  the  Nancy,  and  from 
her  master  learned  that  she  had  been  separated  only 
the  day  before  from  the  outward  bound  Windward 
Island  fleet,  which  was  under  the  protection  of  the 
20-gun  ship  Camel,  the  14-gun  brig  Druid,  the  14-gun 
brig  Grasshopper  and  the  16-gun  sloop  Weasel.  Having 
ascertained  from  the  people  in  the  Nancy  the  positions 
of  these  war  vessels  in  the  fleet,  and  also  their  private 
signals,  Captain  Thompson  made  sail  to  bring  up  with 
them.  About  noon  on  the  following  day,  September 
3d,  while  in  latitude  40°  33'  north,  longitude  50°  17' 
west,  the  fleet  was  descried  from  the  RaleigWs  mast 
head.  Gradually  approaching  until  he  could  make  out 
the  exact  positions  of  the  escorts,  Captain  Thompson, 
using  the  enemy's  code,  signaled  the  Alfred  as  if  she 
were  one  of  the  merchantmen,  and  awaiting  the  cover 
of  night  he  bore  down  on  his  consort  and  ordered  her  to 
follow  his  movements.  After  manoeuvring  until  break 
of  day  in  a  vain  endeavor  to  separate  some  of  the  ships 
from  the  fleet  Captain  Thompson  resolved  to  leave  the 
Alfred,  as  she  was  a  dull  sailer,  and  go  into  the  fleet 
alone.  This  plan  was  carried  out  in  a  most  audacious 
manner,  the  RaleigTi  giving  orders  to  the  merchantmen 
as  she  passed  and  answering  the  British  commander's 
signals  just  as  if  she  were  one  of  the  convoy.  The 
English  were  completely  deceived  and  continued  peace- 


1777.  A  SUCCESSFUL  NIGHT  ATTACK.  69 

fully  on  their  course,  ignorant  of  the  presence  of  an 
enemy. 

Taking  advantage  of  this,  Captain  Thompson  care 
fully  worked  his  way  through  the  fleet  until  he  had 
secured  a  position  to  windward  of  the  Druid,  when, 
having  edged  up  to  a  favorable  quarter,  he  suddenly 
threw  open  his  ports,  ran  out  a  row  of  sixteen  guns 
and  poured  in  a  broadside  of  round  and  grapeshot  upon 
the  astounded  enemy.  In  the  twinkling  of  an  eye  the 
innocent-looking  merchant  ship  had  been  changed  into 
a  powerful  frigate,  and  for  twenty  minutes  she  hurled 
broadside  after  broadside  into  the  unfortunate  English 
men,  who  were  scarcely  able  to  fire  a  shot  in  return. 
Consternation  and  confusion  reigned  throughout  the 
fleet,  and  the  ships  crowded  sail  in  every  direction  to 
escape  not  only  from  the  Raleigli  but  from  each  other, 
for  now  broadsides  were  expected  from  every  quarter. 
Finally  discovering  that  the  cause  of  the  panic  was  but 
a  single  ship,  the  British  vessels  of  war,  together  with 
several  heavily  armed  merchantmen,  made  sail  to  rescue 
the  Druid.  Captain  Thompson  continued  his  storm  of 
round  shot,  grape  and  canister  until  the  enemy  was 
nearly  upon  him,  when  he  hauled  off  and  rejoined  the 
Alfred  on  the  outskirts  of  the  fleet.  Here  the  two 
cruisers  remained  some  time,  hoping  for  another  op 
portunity  to  attack,  but  as  none  presented  itself  they 
resumed  their  course  for  France. 

The  Druid  was  a  complete  wreck ;  her  masts,  rig 
ging  and  sails  were  cut  to  pieces,  and  five  feet  of  water 
was  in  her  hold,  so  that  she  was  compelled  to  return  to 
England.  Captain  Carteret,  her  commander,  was  so 
dangerously  wounded  that  he  was  carried  below,  and 
by  the  same  shot  the  master  was  killed.  The  enemy's 
loss  was  six  killed  and  twenty-six  wounded,1  while 
the  Raleigli  sustained  only  trifling  injury,  her  loss  in 
killed  or  wounded  being  three. 

1  Official  report  of  Captain  Carteret. 


YO  THE  AMERICAN   NAVY  IN  EUROPE.  1778. 

Arriving  in  France  the  Raleigh  and  the  Alfred 
loaded  with  military  stores,  and  in  February,  1778, 
sailed  from  L' Orient  for  America,  taking  a  southerly 
course  in  the  expectation  of  falling  in  with  English 
merchantmen.  On  the  9th  of  March,  while  they  were 
pursuing  an  uneventful  voyage,  two  sails  were  discov 
ered  which  proved  to  be  English  ships  of  war.  The 
Alfred  was  the  first  to  make  them  out,  the  Raleigh 
being  hull  down  to  leeward,  and  before  the  American 
cruisers  could  come  together,  the  Alfred,  being  a  "  ten 
der-sided  ship,"  was  overtaken  and  captured.  Seeing 
the  fate  of  his  consort  and  knowing  that  the  stores 
with  which  his  ship  was  laden  were  of  great  value  to  the 
American  army,  Captain  Thompson  made  all  sail  be 
fore  the  wind  to  escape,  and  although  the  enemy  gave 
chase  the  fine  sailing  qualities  of  the  RaleigJi  enabled 
her  to  run  them  out  of  sight.  The  British  vessels  were 
the  Ariadne  of  twenty  guns  and  the  Ceres  of  fourteen. 
Captain  Thompson  was  severely  criticised  for  abandon 
ing  the  Alfred,  and  soon  afterward  was  relieved  of  his 
command  and  ordered  to  await  trial. 

The  temerity  of  American  privateers  in  their  opera 
tions  off  the  coasts  of  Great  Britain  was  unparalleled. 
An  instance  of  it  is  quaintly  described  in  a  private 
letter  of  that  day  as  follows  :  "  An  American  privateer 
of  twelve  guns  came  into  this  road  (Guernsey)  yester 
day  morning,  tacked  about  on  the  firing  of  the  guns 
from  the  Castle,  and  just  off  the  Island  took  a  large 
brig  bound  for  this  port  which  they  have  since  carried 
into  Cherbourg.  She  had  the  impudence  to  send  her 
boat  in  the  dusk  of  the  evening  to  a  little  island  off 
here  called  Jet  to  and  unluckily  carried  off  the  lieuten 
ant  of  Northley's  Independent  Company  here  with  the 
adjutant,  who  were  shooting  rabbits  for  their  diver 
sion.  The  brig  they  took  is  valued  at  seven  thousand 
pounds."  The  English  Government  was  obliged  to 
furnish  convoys  even  for  the  Irish  coast  trade.  "An 
escort  for  linen  ships  from  Newry  and  Dublin,  and  from 


1777.   UNPRECEDENTED  LOSSES  TO  BRITISH  COMMERCE.     71 

Dublin  to  England,  was  requested  and  given."1  uln 
no  former  war,  not  even  in  any  of  the  wars  with  France 
and  Spain,  the  linen  vessels  from  Ireland  were  con 
voyed."2 

English  trade  to  the  West  India  Islands  also  suf 
fered  great  losses.  An  English  correspondent  writing 
from  Jamaica,  May  2,  1777,  said  that  in  one  week 
upward  of  fourteen  English  ships  were  carried  into 
Martinique.  Another  Englishman,  writing  from  Gre 
nada,  April  18,  1777,  said  :  "  Every  thing  continues  ex 
cessively  dear  here,  and  we  are  happy  if  we  can  get 
anything  for  money  by  reason  of  the  quantity  of  ves 
sels  that  are  taken  by  American  privateers.  A  fleet 
of  vessels  came  from  Ireland  a  few  days  ago.  From 
sixty  vessels  that  departed  from  Ireland  not  above 
twenty-five  arrived  in  this  and  neighboring  islands,  the 
others  (it  is  thought)  being  all  taken  by  the  American 
privateers.  God  knows  if  this  American  war  continues 
much  longer  we  shall  all  die  with  hunger.  There  was 
a  Guineaman  that  came  from  Africa  with  four  hundred 
and  fifty  negroes,  some  thousand  weight  of  gold  dust 
and  a  great  many  elephant  teeth ;  the  whole  cargo  be 
ing  computed  to  be  worth  twenty  thousand  pounds 
sterling,  taken  by  an  American  privateer,  a  brig  mount 
ing  fourteen  cannon,  a  few  days  ago. " 

The  number  of  British  vessels  captured  by  the 
Americans  during  the  year  1777  was  four  hundred  and 
sixty-seven. 

We  now  come  to  the  first  of  the  famous  cruises  of 
Captain  John  Paul  Jones  off  the  coasts  of  Great  Britain. 
The  American  commissioners  in  Europe  had  ordered 
one  of  the  heaviest  single-decked  frigates  that  up  to 
that  time  had  been  built  to  be  constructed  in  Holland. 
She  was  called  the  Indien,  but  afterward  her  name  was 
changed  to  South  Carolina,  and  she  was  armed  on  her 

1  Admiralty  to  London  merchants. 

8  London  Remembrancer,  vol.  v,  p.  144. 


72  THE  AMERICAN  NAVY  IN   EUROPE.  1777. 

main  deck  with  Swedish  36-pounders.  It  was  pro 
posed  to  send  over  a  party  of  American  officers  and 
sailors  to  France  in  the  French  letter  of  marque 
Amphitrite,  which  had  recently  arrived  in  America 
with  stores  from  Europe,  and,  by  making  a  transfer 
of  property,  man  the  Indien  and  send  her  into 
British  waters  under  the  American  flag.  Owing  to 
some  difficulty  in  the  matter  of  the  transfer  the  plan 
fell  through,  and  Captain  Jones,  who  was  to  have 
commanded  her,  was  ordered  to  the  18-gun  ship 
Hanger. 

As  English  writers  have  asserted  that  in  his  opera 
tions  oif  the  British  coasts  Captain  Jones  acted  merely 
in  the  capacity  of  a  privateers  man,  it  will  be  neces 
sary  at  the  outset  to  show  that  he  served  as  a  naval 
officer  and  was  duly  authorized  to  command  the  regu 
lar  cruiser  of  the  United  States  : 

"  PHILADELPHIA,  May  9,  1777. 

"  JOHN  PAUL  JONES,  Esq. 

"  SIR  :  Congress  have  thought  proper  to  employ  you 
on  a  voyage  in  the  AmpMtrite,  from  Portsmouth  to 
Carolina  and  France,  where  it  is  expected  you  will  be 
provided  with  a  fine  frigate  ;  and  as  your  present  com 
mission  is  for  the  command  of  a  particular  ship,  we 
now  send  you  a  new  one,  whereby  you  are  appointed 
a  captain  in  our  navy,  and  of  course  may  command 
any  ship  in  the  service  to  which  you  are  particularly 
ordered.  You  are  to  obey  the  orders  of  the  Secret 
Committee.  Sir,  &c. 

"[Signed]         JOHN  HANCOCK, 
ROBERT  MORRIS, 
WILLIAM  WHIPPLE." 

The  Hanger  sailed  from  Portsmouth,  New  Hamp 
shire,  on  the  1st  of  November.  Captain  Jones  com 
plained  that  he  could  obtain  but  one  barrel  of  rum  for 
his  crew,  that  the  vessel  had  only  one  set  of  sails,  and 
some  of  those  were  made  of  inferior  cloth,  that  his 


1777.         A  FRENCH  ADMIRAL  SALUTES   OUR  FLAG.  73 

stores  were  short,  and  tha/t  the  ship  in  every  respect 
was  poorly  equipped.  This  complaint  was  undoubt 
edly  well  grounded,  but  it  was  under  such  difficulties 
that  nearly  every  American  commander  took  to  the  sea 
in  the  struggle  for  independence.  The  Ranger  arrived 
at  Nantes  on  the  2d  of  December,  having  captured,  on 
the  passage  over,  two  prizes,  and  was  once  chased  by  a 
two-decker.  From  Nantes  Captain  Jones  convoyed  a 
number  of  American  merchantmen  to  Quiberon  Bay  (a 
few  miles  to  the  north),  and  placed  them  under  the 
protection  of  the  French  fleet  commanded  by  Admiral 
Le  Motte  Piquet.  From  this  officer  Captain  Jones, 
after  considerable  negotiation,  secured  a  salute  to  the 
Stars  and  Stripes.  Captain  Jones  describes  this  diplo 
matic  triumph  in  a  style  peculiarly  his  own,  as  fol 
lows  :  "I  am  happy  to  have  it  in  my  power  to  con 
gratulate  you  [the  American  Commissioners  at  Paris] 
on  my  having  seen  the  American  flag  for  the  first  time 
recognized  in  the  fullest  and  completest  manner  by  the 
flag  of  France.  I  was  off  this  bay  on  the  13th  inst., 
and  sent  my  boat  in  the  next  day  to  know  if  the  ad 
miral  would  return  my  salute.  He  answered  that  he 
would  return  to  me  as  the  senior  American  Continental 
officer  in  Europe  the  same  salute  as  he  was  authorized 
to  return  to  an  admiral  of  Plolland,  or  any  other  re 
public,  which  was  four  guns  less  than  the  salute  given, 
I  hesitated  at  this,  for  I  demanded  gun  for  gun. 
Therefore  I  anchored  in  the  entrance  to  the  bay  at 
some  distance  from  the  French  fleet,  but  after  a  very 
particular  inquiry  on  the  14th,  finding  that  he  really 
told  the  truth,  I  was  induced  to  accept  his  offer ;  the 
more  as  it  was  an  acknowledgment  of  American  inde 
pendence.  The  wind  being  contrary  and  blowing  hard, 
it  was  after  sunset  before  the  Ranger  was  near  enough 
to  salute  Le  Motte  Piquet  with  thirteen  guns,  which  he 
returned  with  nine.  However,  to  put  the  matter  be 
yond  a  doubt,  I  did  not  suffer  the  Independence  to 
salute  until  the  next  morning,  when  I  sent  word  to  the 

8 


74  THE  AMERICAN  NAVY  IN  EUROPE.  1778. 

admiral  that  I  would  sail  through  his  fleet  in  the  brig 
and  would  salute  him  in  open  day.  He  was  exceed 
ingly  pleasant,  and  returned  the  compliment  also  with 
nine  guns." 

Having  refitted  at  Brest,  the  Ranger  sailed  on  the 
10th  of  April,  1778,  for  the  English  coast,  and  on  the 
14th,  while  between  the  Scilly  Islands  and  Cape  Clear, 
captured  and  destroyed  a  brigantine  laden  with  flax- 
seed.  Three  days  later  she  appeared  off  the  port  of 
Dublin  and  seized  the  ship  Lord  Chatham,  which  was 
manned  and  sent  into  Brest.  Captain  Jones  then  stood 
over  to  the  Isle  of  Man  with  the  intention  of  making 
a  descent  on  Whitehaven.  At  ten  o'clock  that  night 
everything  was  in  readiness  for  the  attempt,  but  before 
eleven  o'clock  the  wind  had  so  increased  in  violence  as 
to  render  it  impossible  to  land.  On  the  following  day 
the  ship  chased  a  revenue  wherry  but  did  not  succeed 
in  coming  up  with  it.  Captain  Jones  was  anxious  to 
have  his  presence  in  these  waters  unknown  to  the 
enemy  as  long  as  possible,  and  to  this  end  he  kept  his 
vessel  disguised  as  a  merchantman.  It  was  under  this 
guise  that  he  chased  the  revenue  wherry,  but  it  is  be 
lieved  that  the  men  in  the  boat  were  aware  of  the 
Ranger's  character,  and  carried  the  news  to  the  people 
on  shore.  At  dawn  of  the  next  day  Captain  Jones 
found  himself  alongside  of  a  coasting  schooner  laden 
with  barley,  and  he  sunk  her  lest  her  crew  should 
spread  the  news  of  the  cruiser's  presence  in  these 
parts. 

The  next  day,  while  off  the  extreme  southwestern 
coast  of  Scotland,  a  coasting  schooner  laden  with  bar 
ley  was  captured  and  sunk.  Cruising  along  the  coast 
of  Scotland  as  high  as  the  Clyde,  Captain  Jones  put 
across  for  the  Irish  coast  and  on  the  21st  appeared 
off  Carrickfergus,  where  he  learned  from  some  fisher 
men  that  the  British  sloop  of  war  Drake  was  at  anchor 
in  the  Roads.  This  was  an  opportunity  admirably 
adapted  to  the  daring  of  the  American  commander, 


1778. 


A  NIGHT  ATTACK  ON   THE  DRAKE. 


75 


and,  having  ascertained  the  exact  position  of  the  sloop, 
he  made  careful  preparation  for  a  night  attack.  Wait 
ing  until  dark  he  got  under  way  and  stood  into  the 
Koads,  but  by  this  time  the  wind,  which  had  been 
fresh  throughout 
the  afternoon,  had 
increased  to  a  gale 
and  made  the  un 
dertaking  exceed 
ingly  hazardous ; 
but,  undaunted  by 
this,  Captain  Jones 
kept  on  his  course. 
Presently  the  shad 
owy  outlines  of 
the  Drake,  riding 
heavily  at  anchor, 
loomed  out  of  the 
darkness.  It  was 
intended  to  foul 
her  at  the  cables, 
swing  alongside 
and  carry  her  by 
surprise,  but  "un 
fortunately,"  says 
Captain  Jones  in 
his  Journal,  ' '  the 


Captain  Jones'  cruise  in  the  Irish  Sea. 


anchor  was  not  let  go  as  soon  as  the  order  was  given," 
and,  instead  of  laying  the  enemy  alongside,  the  Ranger 
was  brought  up  half  a  cable's  length  off  his  quarter. 
This  put  the  Americans  in  imminent  danger  of  ground 
ing,  for  the  wind  had  carried  them  between  the  Dratie 
and  the  shore,  where,  if  found  at  break  of  day,  they 
would  be  at  the  enemy's  mercy.  The  perils  of  their 
situation  were  greatly  enhanced  by  the  strength  and 
direction  of  the  wind,  which  was  now  blowing  a  furious 
gale.  After  half  an  hour  of  manoeuvring  the  JRanger 
was  extricated  from  her  critical  position  and  regained 


76  THE  AMERICAN  NAVY  IN  EUROPE.  1778. 

the  Roads,  when  she  stood  out  to  sea,  postponing  for 
the  time  her  design  on  the  Drake. 

Captain  Jones  now  determined  to  renew  his  attempt 
against  the  shipping  in  Whitehaven,  a  city  of  nearly 
fifty  thousand  inhabitants,  and  to  uput  an  end,  by  one 
good  fire  in  England,  of  shipping,  to  all  burnings  in 
America."1  Waiting  until  midnight,  April  22d,  he  put 
off  from  the  Ranger  with  thirty  men  in  two  boats,  one 
commanded  by  himself  and  the  other  by  Lieutenant 
Wallingford.  Day  was  beginning  to  break,  however, 
before  they  reached  the  outer  pier  of  the  harbor,  where 
the  boats  separated  ;  the  one  commanded  by  Lieutenant 
Wallingford  making  for  the  north  side  of  the  harbor 
with  orders  to  burn  all  the  shipping  there,  while  Cap 
tain  Jones  made  for  the  south  shore  with  the  same 
object  in  view.  Lieutenant  Wallingford  on  reaching 
the  land  abandoned  the  attempt,  because  the  candle  on 
which  he  relied  for  starting  the  fire  gave  out.  The 
party  under  Captain  Jones  found  a  small  fort  on  the 
south  side  of  the  harbor,  garrisoned  by  a  few  soldiers. 
Gallantly  scaling  the  walls,  the  Americans  seized  the 
sentinels,  spiked  the  guns  and  made  the  garrison  pris 
oners.  Captain  Jones  then  gave  orders  to  fire  the 
shipping,  while  he,  with  one  officer,  went  to  a  second 
fort  about  a  quarter  of  a  mile  away  and  spiked  its 
guns  also.  Returning  to  the  first  fort,  he  was  sur 
prised  to  find  that  the  fires  had  not  been  started,  and 
was  informed  that  the  candles  had  given  out.  Not 
withstanding  that  it  was  now  broad  daylight  and  that 
the  alarm  had  been  given,  Captain  Jones  entered  one 
of  the  houses  in  the  neighborhood,  secured  tinder  and 
candles  and  proceeded  with  the  work  of  destruction. 
A  large  vessel  was  boarded  and  a  fire  kindled  in  her 
steerage,  and  by  placing  a  barrel  of  tar  over  the  flames 
they  soon  made  great  headway.  This  ship  "was  sur 
rounded  by  at  least  an  hundred  and  fifty  others,  chiefly 

1  Captain  Jones  in  a  memorial  to  Congress. 


1778.  THE  ATTEMPT  AGAINST   WHITEHAVEK  77 

from  two  to  four  hundred  tons  burthen,  and  lying  side 
by  side,  aground,  unsurrounded  by  the  water,  the  tide 
being  out."1 

The  Americans  now  embarked  in  their  boat  at  the 
end  of  the  pier  with  the  exception  of  Captain  Jones, 
who  leveled  his  pistol  at  the  crowd  that  had  collected 
at  the  other  end  of  the  wharf,  and  by  maintaining  a 
bold  front  he  held  them  at  bay  until  the  flames  burst 
out  of  the  steerage  and  began  to  ascend  the  rigging, 
when  he  retired  to  his  boat  and  gave  the  word  to  shove 
off.  By  this  time  the  sun  had  been  up  quite  an  hour 
and  the  entire  population  was  assembling  at  tire  pier. 
The  instant  the  American  boat  put  off  the  crowd  rushed 
to  the  rescue  of  the  shipping,  and  succeeded  in  extin 
guishing*  irhe  flames  before  any  considersfble  dantage 
had  Jaeen  done.  Attempts  were  made  to  fire  on  the 
retreating  boat,  but  the  guns  of  the  forts  were  found  to 
be  spiked,  although  one  or  two  cannon  were  landed 
from  the  ships  and  discharged.  No  loss  was  sustained 
by  the  Americans  except  that  one  of  the  crew  was 
missing,  and  it  was  thought  that  he  deserted  and  gave 
the  alarm  to  the  people,  as  a  man  of  his  description 
was  seen  running  from  house  to  house  shouting  that 
the  Americans  had  landed  and  were  firing  the  ship 
ping.  Captain  Jones  carried  off  three  prisoners. 

The  Gentleman's  Magazine  for  1778  gives  the  fol 
lowing  account  of  this  affair:  "  The  town  of  White- 
haven,  in  Cumberland,  opposite  the  Irish  coast,  was 
suddenly  alarmed  by  a  party  from  an  American  priva 
teer,  who  landed  in  the  night  and  set  fire  to  one  of  the 
ships  in  the  harbor,  with  a  design  to  burn  the  town, 
which,  however,  was  providentially  prevented  by  the 
exertions  of  the  inhabitants,  who  extinguished  the 
flames  before  they  had  reached  the  rigging." 

As  a  means  of  alleviating  the  suffering  of  American 
prisoners,  efforts  were  made  to  secure  the  person  of  some 

1  Log  of  the  Ranger. 


78  THE  AMERICAN   NAVY  IN  EUROPE.  1778. 

Englishman  of  rank,  to  be  held  as  a  hostage  and  to  share 
the  fate  of  certain  American  officers  confined  in  British 
prisons.1  Being  familiar  with  these  coasts  Captain 
Jones  determined  to  seize  the  Earl  of  Selkirk,  a  Scot 
tish  nobleman  whose  country  seat  was  on  the  Isle  of 
St.  Mary  at  the  mouth  of  the  river  Dee.  On  the  night 
of  April  23d  he  anchored  off  the  Dee,  a  force  was  landed 
and  the  house  surrounded,  but  it  was  found  that  the 
earl  was  absent.  On  the  return  of  his  men  to  the  ship 
Captain  Jones,  who  had  not  accompanied  the  expedi 
tion,  discovered  that  they  had  taken  some  of  the  family 
plate,  valued  at  five  hundred  dollars,  which  he  after 
ward  returned  with  a  note  expressing  regret  for  the 
conduct  of  his  men. 

Although  fully  aware  that  the  entire  coast  by  this 
time  was  advised  of  his  presence  and  that  many  cruis 
ers  had  been  dispatched  to  intercept  him,  Captain  Jones 
still  lingered  in  a  position  which  was  hourly  growing 
more  critical.  On  the  24th  of  April  he  ran  over  to  Car- 
rickfergus,  hoping  to  induce  the  Drake  to  come  out  and 
give  battle.  On  the  afternoon  of  the  same  day  Captain 
Burdon  of  the  Drake ',  observing  what  he  thought  to  be 


1  The  brutalities  to  which  Americans  were  subjected  in  British  prison- 
ships  and  other  places  of  confinement  had  aroused  great  indignation  through 
out  the  United  States.  The  following  extract  from  the  Journals  of  Par 
liament  throws  some  light  on  the  mode  the  British  ministers  adopted  in 
carrying  on  this  war : 

"  Mr.  Burke  moved  an  amendment  by  adding  these  words,  '  saving  and 
excepting  the  sum  of  £160,837  which  appears,  by  Sir  Guy  Carleton's  ac 
counts  laid  before  this  House,  to  have  been  expended  for  the  carrying  on 
of  a  savage  war  in  a  manner  contrary  to  the  usages  of  the  civilized  nations, 
against  the  English  colonies  in  North  America ;  excepting  also  the  sum  of 
£16,000  which  appears  to  have  been  expended  for  the  same  purpose  in  the 
southern  department  of  Indians ;  also  excepting  the  sum  of  £5,000  which 
hath  been  expended  in  carrying  on  a  war  of  insurgent  negroes  against  the 
inhabitants  of  the  Province  of  Virginia ;  and  excepting  whatever  hath  been 
paid  out  of  the  said  extraordinaries,  specified  in  General  Carleton's  corre 
spondence,  for  one  hundred  crosses  and  five  gross  of  scalping-knives,  the 
said  expenditures  being  disgraceful  to  religion  and  humanity.'  " — Journals 
of  Parliament,  vol.  xix,  p.  971. 


1778.  THE  RANGER  AND  THE  DRAKE.  79 

the  American  cruiser  making  for  the  Roads,  sent  an 
officer  in  a  boat  to  determine  the  character  of  the  ap 
proaching  vessel,  but  Captain  Jones,  surmising  the  mis 
sion  of  the  boat,  skillfully  kept  the  Ranger's  stern 
toward  the  skiff  so  that  the  enemy  was  unable  to  see 
her  broadside.  The  officer  soon  came  alongside  and 
hailed,  and  being  induced  to  come  aboard  was  made 
prisoner  and  taken  below.  Believing  that  the  com 
mander  of  the  Drake  would  come  out  in  search  of  his 
men,  Captain  Jones  filled  away  into  North  Channel, 
hoping  the  sloop  would  follow.  The  tide  was  against 
the  British  cruiser,  so  that  it  was  several  hours  before 
she  cleared  the  headland  and  was  enabled  to  lay  a 
straight  course  for  the  offing.  In  the  meantime  the 
Ranger  kept  drifting  to  windward,  and  her  helm  was 
put  up  several  times  in  order  to  ru\i  down  toward  her 
enemy,  when  she  would  again  throw  her  maiii topsail 
aback  and  lie  with  her  courses  in  the  brails.  Alarm 
smokes  now  appeared  in  great  numbers  on  both  sides 
of  the  Channel,  giving  notice  of  the  presence  of  the 
Ranger.  About  an  hour  before  sunset  the  Drake  was 
observed  slowly  working  her  way  out  of  the  Roads, 
followed  by  five  small  vessels  at  a  respectful  distance 
filled  with  people  eager  to  witness  a  naval  engagement, 
while  thousands  of  spectators  lined  the  shores  to  watch 
the  impending  struggle.  When  the  enemy  was  near 
enough  to  recognize  the  boat  towing  astern  of  the 
Ranger  as  the  one  that  had  been  sent  out  early  in  the 
afternoon  to  reconnoiter,  the  small  craft  hurriedly  put 
about  and  kept  at  a  safe  distance.  Having  led  the 
Drake  into  mid-channel,  in  plain  view  of  three  king 
doms,  Captain  Jones  hove  to,  ran  up  the  flag  of  the 
Republic,  and  awaited  the  enemy. 

On  coming  within  hail  Captain  Burdon  demanded 
the  Ranger's  name  and  business,  to  which  Captain 
Jones  replied,  "The  American  Continental  ship  Ran 
ger"  and  expressed  his  readiness  to  engage.  At  this 
moment,  the  Drake  being  astern  of  the  Ranger,  Cap- 


80  THE  AMERICAN  NAVY  IN  EUROPE.  J778. 

tain  Jones  ordered  his  helm  up  and  poured  in  a  full 
broadside.  The  enemy  promptly  responded,  and  with 
little  or  no  manoeuvring  the  ships  maintained  a  heavy 
cannonade  for  one  hour  and  four  minutes.  The  action 
was  a  square  yardarm  and  yardarm  light,  and  was 
continued  with  great  spirit  until  the  expiration  of  that 
time,  when  the  enemy  called  for  quarter,  upon  which 
the  Ranger  ceased  firing,  lowered  a  boat  and  sent  it 
aboard  the  Drake  to  take  possession.  The  latter  was 
found  to  be  greatly  injured.  "Her  fore  and  maintop- 
sail  yards,"  said  Captain  Jones  in  his  official  report, 
' '  being  both  cut  away  and  down  on  the  caps,  the  top 
gallant  yard  and  mizzen  gaff  both  hanging  up  and 
down  along  the  mast,  the  second  ensign  which  they 
had  hoisted  shot  away  and  hanging  on  the  quarter 
gallery  in  the  water,  the  jib  shot  away  and  hanging  in 
the  water,  her  sails  and  rigging  entirely  cut  to  pieces, 
her  masts  and  yards  all  wounded  and  her  hull  very 
much  galled." 

The  Ranger's  injuries  were  comparatively  slight, 
while  her  loss,  out  of  a  crew  of  one  hundred  and  twenty- 
three  men,1  was  Lieutenant  Wallingford  and  one  man 
killed,  and  six  men  wounded,2  among  the  latter  being 
Midshipman  Powers.  ' c  The  crew  of  the  Drake  was 
more  numerous  than  has  been  generally  supposed. 
The  exact  number  borne  upon  her  books  at  the  time 
of  the  action,  including  officers,  supernumeraries  and 
boys,  was  one  hundred  and  fifty-one."3  Captain  Jones 
learned  from  the  officer  captured  in  the  boat  sent  out 
before  the  battle  to  reconnoiter  that  the  Drake  came 
out  with  volunteers  against  the  Ranger.  It  is  not 
likely  that  these  volunteers  for  this  special  and  un 
expected  occasion  of  a  single  battle  would  be  regu 
larly  enrolled  on  the  Drake's  books,  which,  together 

1  Emmons'  Statistical  History  of  the  United  States  Navy,  p.  44. 

2  Official  report  of  Captain  Jones. 

3  Allen's  Battles  of  the  British  Navy,  vol.  i,  p.  262,  note. 


1778.  THE  RANGER  AND  THE  DRAKE.  gj_ 

with  the  one  hundred  and  fifty-one  admitted  to  have 
been  engaged  as  her  crew  at  the  time  of  the  action, 
makes  Captain  Jones'  estimate  of  the  enemy's  force 
highly  probable:  UA11  the  prisoners  allow  that  they 
came  out  with  a  number  not  less  than  an  hundred  and 
sixty  men,  and  many  of  them  affirm  that  they  amounted 
to  an  hundred  and  ninety.  The  medium  may,  perhaps, 
be  the  most  exact  account. "  Out  of  this  crew  the  Drake 
lost  forty-two  killed  or  wounded,  according  to  Amer 
ican  accounts,  while  the  English  admit  twenty-four.1 
Among  the  mortally  wounded  were  Captain  Burdon 
and  his  lieutenant,  the  former  struck  by  a  musket  shot 
in  the  head.  The  Ranger  carried  eighteen  guns,2  while 
the  Drake  was  rated  as  an  18-gun  ship-sloop,  but  on 
this  occasion  carried  twenty  guns. 


Comparative  force  and  loss. 

tal. 

2    \ 

Time  Ih.  4m. 


Guns.         Crew.       Killed.     Wounded.        Total. 

Ranger         18          123        .2  6  8  ) 

Drake:         20          160         ..         .   ..  42  \ 

The  moderate  weather  during  the  night  enabled  the 
men  to  repair  damages,  which  occupied  them  until  day 
light  and  the  whole  of  the  afternoon  of  the  following 
day,  April  25th,  and  having  sunk  a  large  brigantine  in 
the  meantime  the  .Ranger  with  her  prize  got  under 
way  about  dusk.  Captain  Jones  now  liberated  the 
fishermen  he  had  captured,  giving  them  money,  a  boat, 
provisions  and  a  sail  from  the  Drake  as  a  significant 
intimation  to  those  ashore  of  the  fate  of  that  cruiser. 
Heading  northward  the  Ranger  passed  through  North 
Channel,  skirted  the  western  coast  of  Ireland  and  made 
for  France,  where  she  arrived  with  her  prize  on  the 
8th  of  May,  when  Captain  Jones  had  First  Lieutenant 
Simpson  of  the  Ranger  arrested  for  disobedience  of 
orders.  The  daring  and  success  of  this  short  cruise 

1  Allen's  Battles  of  the  British  Navy,  vol.  i,  p.  262. 

8  Ernmons'  Statistical  History  of  the  United  States  Navy,  p.  44. 


82  THE  AMERICAN   NAVY  IN  EUROPE.  1778. 

of  twenty-eight  days  are  unsurpassed  in  the  annals  of 
naval  history.  The  name  Paul  Jones  became  a  syno 
nym  of  terror  throughout  the  coasts  of  Great  Britain, 
and  he  was  the  object  of  hatred  and  malicious  mis 
representation. 


CHAPTER  V. 
THE   STKUGGLE  IN  AMEKICAN  WATEKS. 

THE  first  of  the  32-gun  frigates,  ordered  by  Congress 
in  1775,  to  get  to  sea  was  the  Randolph.  In  February, 
1777,  this  ship,  under  the  command  of  Captain  Nicholas 
Biddle,  sailed  from  Philadelphia  with  general  cruising 
orders,  but  when  only  a  few  days  out  she  was  overtaken 
by  a  violent  gale  in  which  her  masts  were  so  seriously 
weakened  that  Captain  Biddle  put  into  Charleston  for 
repairs.  Getting  to  sea  again  the  Randolph  in  one 
week  returned  to  Charleston  with  six  prizes,  one  of 
them,  the  True  Briton,  armed  with  twenty  guns.  Here 
the  frigate  was  blockaded  for  the  rest  of  the  year, 
but  in  March,  1778,  this  ship  together  with  the  fol 
lowing  South  Carolina  State  cruisers,  the  18-gun  ship 
General  Moultrie,  the  16-gun  ship  Notre  Dame,  the 
16-gun  ship  Polly  and  the  14-gun  ship  Fair  Ameri 
can,  got  to  sea  in  search  of  the  English  32-gun  frigate 
Carry sford,  the  20-gun  sloop  Perseus,  the  16-gun  sloop 
HichiribrooTc  and  a  privateer  that  had  been  cruising  off 
the  coast.  On  the  7th  of  March,  while  eastward  of 
Barbadoes,  these  vessels  fell  in  with  the  English  64-gun 
ship  of  the  line  Yarmouth,  Captain  Vincent.  Captain 
Biddle  immediately  signaled  the  other  vessels  of  his 
squadron  to  make  all  sail  in  escape  while  he  stood  on 
to  engage  the  ship  of  the  line  single-handed.  Unfor 
tunately  we  must  rely  upon  English  accounts  for  the 
details  of  this  affair. 

Allen  in  his  Battles  of  the  British  Navy  says  :  "  On 
the  7th  of  March,  at  5  A.  M.,  the  64-gun  ship  Yarmouth, 
Captain  Nicholas  Vincent,  cruising  eastward  of  Bar- 

(83) 


84: 


THE  STRUGGLE  IN  AMERICAN  WATERS. 


1778. 


badoes  got  sight  of  a  squadron  of  six  sails  consisting  of 
two  ships,  three  brigs  and  a  schooner.  The  Yarmouth 
made  sail  to  close  on  the  strangers  and  at  9  A.  M.  was 
near  enough  to  hail  the  largest,  which  proved  to  be 
the  American  32-gun  frigate  Randolph,  Captain  Mcho- 
las  Biddle.  The  Randolph  immediately  hoisted  her 
colors  and  fired  a  broadside  at  the  Yarmouth,  which 

being  returned  a 
running  fight  of  an 
hour's  duration  en 
sued,  when  the  Ran 
dolph  blew  up.  The 
Yarmouth  being  to 
windward  fortunate 
ly  escaped  being  in 
volved  in  the  catas 
trophe,  but  several 
pieces  of  the  burn 
ing  wreck  fell  on  her 
decks.  An  American 
ensign,  rolled  up, 
was  blown  upon  the 
Yarmouths  forecas 
tle  not  singed.  The 
temerity  of  Captain 
Biddle  in.  thus  en- 


Scene  of  the  naval  operations  of  1777,  1778  and  1779. 

gaging  a  ship  so  much  superior  to  his  own  deserved 
a  better  fate."  In  a  foot-note  the  same  writer  adds: 
"On  the  12th  the  Yarmouth  fell  in  with  a  piece  of 
wreck  of  the  Randolph  on  which  were  found  four 


t 


1778-1777.     THE  RANDOLPH  AND  THE  YARMOUTH.  85 

men,  part  of  the  crew  of  the  ill-starred  ship.  The 
poor  fellows  had  been  on  the  wreck  four  days  and 
had  subsisted  on  the  rain  water  which  had  been  im 
bibed  by  a  piece  of  blanket  which  they  had  picked 
up.  With  these  exceptions  all  hands  perished."  Cap 
tain  Biddle  was  wounded  early  in  the  action,  but 
refused  to  be  carried  below,  and  at  the  time  the  ex 
plosion  occurred  he  was  on  deck  having  his  wounds 
dressed.  Thus  out  of  a  crew  of  three  hundred  and 
fifteen,  three  hundred  and  eleven  perished.  By 
this  heroic  sacrifice  Captain  Biddle  so  injured  and 
harassed  the  Yarmouth  that  the  other  vessels  of  his 
squadron,  although  pursued,  were  enabled  to  make 
good  their  escape.  Captain  Vincent  reported  five  killed 
and  twelve  wounded.  A  model  of  the  Randolph  was 
exhibited  in  1842  in  the  hall  of  the  Naval  Asylum  at 
Philadelphia. 

In  March,  1777,  Captain  Joseph  Olney  while  cruis 
ing  off  the  coast  of  Nova  Scotia  in  the  14-gun  brig 
Cabot  discovered  a  suspicious  sail  to  windward,  and 
after  edging  near  enough  to  ascertain  that  the  stranger 
was  of  superior  force  he  made  sail  to  escape.  But  the 
brig  proved  to  be  a  dull  sailer  and  the  stranger  gained 
rapidly.  Seeing  that  capture  was  inevitable  Captain 
Olney  headed  for  land  and  ran  his  ship  aground.  By 
this  time  the  enemy  had  gained  so  much  that  the 
Americans  barely  had  time  to  get  ashore  and  escape  to 
the  woods.  The  Cabot  with  her  armament  and  stores 
fell  into  the  hands  of  the  English,  who  succeeded  in 
floating  her  off  and  took  her  into  their  service.  The 
British  vessel  was  the  28-gun  frigate  Milford.  Captain 
Olney  subsequently  seized  a  schooner  and  arrived  safe 
ly  in  port.  This  loss  was  retrieved  shortly  afterward 
by  the  Trumbull,  Captain  Dudley  Sal  tons  tall,  which 
frigate  on  the  9th  of  April,  while  lying  off  New  York, 
chased  two  British  transports,  and  after  a  spirited 
action  captured  them  and  found  that  they  were  laden 
with  military  stores  for  the  British  army.  The  enemy 


86  THE  STRUGGLE  IN  AMERICAN  WATERS.  1777. 

suffered  heavily  in  this  affair,  while  the  Trumbull  had 
seven  killed  and  eight  wounded. 

During  1777,  David  Bushnell,  of  Saybrook,  Connect 
icut,  completed  a  submarine  boat  called  the  American 
Turtle,  which  is  the  first  of  this  species  of  naval  war 
fare  in  the  records  of  the  American  navy.  In  a  letter 
to  Thomas  Jefferson  he  describes  the  machine  as  fol 
lows  :  ' 4  The  external  shape  of  the  submarine  vessel 
bore  some  resemblance  to  two  upper  tortoise  shells  of 
equal  size  joined  together,  the  flue  of  entrance  into  the 
vessel  being  represented  by  the  opening  made  by  the 
swells  of  the  shells  at  the  head  of  the  animal.  The 
inside  was  capable  of  containing  the  operator  and  air 
sufficient  to  support  him  thirty  minutes  without  receiv 
ing  a  fresh  supply.  At  the  bottom,  opposite  to  the 
entrance,  was  fixed  a  quantity  of  lead  for  ballast.  At 
one  edge,  which  was  directly  before  the  operator,  who 
sat  upright,  was  an  oar  for  rowing  forward  or  backward. 
At  the  other  edge  was  a  rudder  for  steering.  An  aper 
ture  at  the  bottom,  with  its  valve,  was  designed  to 
admit  water  for  the  purpose  of  descending,  and  two 
brass  forcing  pumps  served  to  eject  the  water  within 
when  necessary  for  ascending.  At  the  top  there  was 
likewise  an  oar  for  ascending  or  descending,  or  con 
tinuing  at  any  particular  depth.  A  water-gauge  or 
barometer  determined  the  depth  of  descent,  a  compass 
directed  the  course,  and  a  ventilator  within  supplied 
the  vessel  with  fresh  air  when  on  the  surface.  The  skill 
ful  operator  could  swim  so  low  on  the  surface  of  the 
water  as  to  approach  very  near  a  ship  in  the  night  with 
out  fear  of  being  discovered,  and  might,  if  he  chose, 
approach  the  stern  or  stem  above  water  with  very  little 
danger.  He  could  sink  very  quickly,  keep  at  any 
necessary  depth  and  row  a  great  distance  in  any  direc 
tion  he  desired  without  coming  to  the  surface.  In  the 
fore  part  of  the  brim  of  the  crown  of  the  submarine 
vessel  was  a  socket  and  an  iron  tube  passing  through 
the  socket ;  the  tube  stood  upright  and  could  slide  up 


1777.          THE   FIRST  AMERICAN  SUBMARINE  BOAT.  87 

and  down  in  the  socket  six  inches.  At  the  top  of  the 
tube  was  a  wood  screw  fixed  by  means  of  a  rod  which 
passed  through  the  tube  and  screwed  the  wood  screw 
fast  upon  the  top  of  the  tube.  By  pushing  the  wood 
screw  up  against  the  bottom  of  a  ship  and  turning  it  at 
the  same  time  it  would  enter  the  planks.  Behind  the 
submarine  vessel  was  a  place  above  the  rudder  for  car 
rying  a  large  powder  magazine.  This  was  made  of  two 
pieces  of  oak  timber  large  enough,  when  hollowed  out, 
to  contain  a  hundred  and  fifty  pounds  of  powder  with 
the  apparatus  used  in  firing  it,  and  was  secured  in 
its  place  by  a  screw  turned  by  the  operator.  A  strong 
piece  of  rope  extended  from-  the  magazine  to  the  wood 
screw  above  mentioned  and  was  fastened  to  both. 
When  the  wood  screw  was  fixed  and  ready  to  be  cast 
off  from  its  tube  the  magazine  was  to  be  cut  off  like 
wise  by  severing  it,  leaving  it  hanging  to  the  wood 
screw.  Within  the  magazine  was  an  apparatus  con 
structed  to  run  any  length  of  time  under  twelve  hours ; 
when  it  had  run  its  time  it  unpinned  a  strong  lock,  re 
sembling  a  gun  lock,  which  gave  fire  to  the  powder. " 

Mr.  Bushnell  seems  to  have  had  more  success  with 
his  machine  than  would  be  thought  possible  from  the 
above  description.  The  following  letter  from  Captain 
J.  Symons,  of  the  British  frigate  Cerberus,  dated  Au 
gust,  1777,  to  Eear- Admiral  Parker,  shows  that  Bush 
nell' s  submarine  boat  at  least  made  British  command 
ers  far  more  cautious  and  disinclined  to  come  too  near 
inshore. 

"Wednesday  night,  being  at  anchor  to  the  west  of 
New  London  in  Black  Point  Bay,  the  schooner  I  had 
taken  was  at  anchor  close  by  me  astern.  About  eleven 
o'clock  at  night  we  discovered  a  line  towing  astern  that 
came  from  the  bows.  We  immediately  conjectured 
that  it  was  somebody  that  had  veered  himself  away  by 
it  and  began  to  haul  in.  We  then  found  that  the 
schooner  had  got  hold  of  it  (who  had  taken  it  for  a 
fishing  line),  gathered  in  near  fifteen  fathom,  which  was 


88  THE  STRUGGLE  IN  AMERICAN  WATERS.     1777-1778. 

buoyed  up  by  little  bits  of  sticks  at  stated  distances 
until  he  came  to  the  end,  at  which  was  fastened  a 
machine  which  was  too  heavy  for  one  man  to  haul  up, 
being  upward  of  one  hundredweight.  The  other  peo 
ple  of  the  boat  turning  out  assisted  him,  got  it  on  deck, 
and  were  unfortunately  examining  it  too  curiously 
when  it  went  oif  like  the  sound  of  a  gun,  blew  the  boat 
into  pieces  and  set  her  in  a  flame,  killing  three  of  the 
men  that  were  in  her  stern  ;  the  fourth,  who  was  stand 
ing  forward,  was  blown  into  the  water. " 

The  following  closing  sentences  of  this  letter  show 
that  the  commander  of  the  Cerbemts  was  made  very  ill 
at  ease  by  this  first  experience  with  submarine  warfare  : 
"Upon  examining  round  the  ship  after  this  accident 
we  found  the  other  part  of  a  line  to  the  larboard  [port] 
side  buoyed  up  in  the  same  manner,  which  I  ordered 
to  be  cut  away  immediately  for  fear  of  hauling  up  an 
other  machine.  .  .  .  The  mode  these  villains  must  have 
taken,  etc.  ...  As  the  ingenuity  of  these  people  is 
singular  in  their  secret  modes  of  mischief,  etc."  Cap 
tain  Symons,  like  many  naval  officers  of  a  later  day, 
evidently  did  not  approve  of  "  under-handed"  fighting. 
In  January,  1778,  Mr.  Bushnell  sent  a  "Fleet  of  Kegs" 
down  the  Delaware  with  a  view  of  having  them  explode 
among  the  British  ships  that  were  in  the  lower  part  of 
the  river,  but  owing  to  the  ice  and  darkness  they  did 
little  damage.  They  blew  up  one  of  the  enemy's  boats, 
however,  and  occasioned  no  little  consternation  among 
their  seamen.  Francis  Hopkinson  based  his  humorous 
poem  "The  Battle  of  the  Kegs"  on  this  incident. 

In  May,  1777,  the  32-gun  frigate  Hancock,  Captain 
John  Manly,  and  the  24-gun  ship  Boston,  Captain 
Hector  McNiel,  got  under  way  for  a  cruise  eastward, 
the  Hancock  being  the  second  of  the  new  cruisers  to 
get  to  sea.  Early  on  the  morning  of  the  fourth  day 
out  from  Boston  the  Hancock,  being  about  four  miles 
to  windward  of  her  consort,  signaled  a  strange  sail, 
and  Captain  Manly  put  about  and  stood  for  the  stran- 


1777.       ACTION  BETWEEN  THE  HANCOCK  AND  FOX.          39 

ger,  which,  soon  was  made  out  to  be  an  English  frigate. 
After  some  manoeuvring  to  determine  the  force  and 
sailing  qualities  of  his  foe,  Captain  Manly  closed  on 
1pm  and  opened  the  action  with  a  broadside  from  his 
starboard  battery.  It  was  not  long  before  the  enemy, 
finding  himself  opposed  to  a  superior  force,  turned  to 
escape ;  but  the  Hancock  was  quickly  in  pursuit,  and 
as  she  was  one  of  the  swiftest  vessels  in  the  service  she 
soon  closed  again  on  the  enemy.  The  chase  kept  up  a 
galling  fire  on  the  Hancock '  s  rigging,  but  Captain  Man 
ly,  reserving  his  ammunition  until  fairly  alongside, 
poured  in  a  full  broadside,  and  then  began  another 
heavy  cannonade,  which  the  enemy  with  commendable 
obstinacy  sustained  for  an  hour,  when,  the  Boston  hav 
ing  come  within  range,  he  struck.  The  prize  proved 
to  be  the  British  28-gun  frigate  Fox,  Captain  Fother- 
ingham.  The  Hancock  sustained  a  loss  of  eight  men 
killed  or  wounded,  while  that  of  the  Fox  was  placed  at 
thirty-two. 

A  prize  crew  having  been  put  aboard  the  Fox,  the 
vessels  continued  their  cruise  to  the  north.  While  ap 
proaching  too  near  the  harbor  of  Halifax,  June  1st, 
they  were  pursued  by  the  British  44-gun  frigate  Rain- 
'bow,  Sir  George  Collier,  the  32-gun  frigate  Flora  and 
the  18-gun  sloop  of  war  Victor.  The  Boston  was  well 
to  seaward  and  found  no  difficulty  in  effecting  her  es 
cape,  but  the  Hancock  and  the  Fox  were  so  close  in 
shore  that  the  enemy  was  upon  them  before  sail  could 
be  made.  As  soon  as  the  force  of  the  strangers  was  dis 
covered  the  Hancock  and  the  Fox  crowded  on  all  sail 
to  escape,  but  they  were  so  hard  pressed  that  Captain 
Manly  began  easing  his  ship  by  throwing  overboard 
every  article  that  could  be  dispensed  with.  This  so 
increased  the  Hancocks  speed  that  she  undoubtedly 
would  have  got  free  had  not  the  wind  failed  at  a  crit 
ical  moment,  leaving  her  within  easy  gunshot  of  the 
Rainbow  and  the  Victor  with  no  means  of  changing 

her  position.     Seeing  that  it  was  impossible  to  elude 
.  9 


90  THE  STRUGGLE  IN  AMERICAN  WATERS.  1777. 

the  enemy's  cruisers,  Captain  Manly  struck  his  flag. 
The  Flora  in  the  meantime  had  overtaken  and  cap 
tured  the  Fox,  but  not  without  a  sturdy  resistance  on 
the  part  of  her  prize  crew. 

The  conduct  of  Captain  McMel,  of  the  Boston,  in 
deserting  his  consort  at  the  first  alarm  has  been  harsh 
ly  criticised.  This  neglect  of  duty,  if  it  was  such,  was 
owing  largely,  if  not  entirely,  to  the  unorganized  condi 
tion  of  the  navy  at  that  period.  The  absence  of  esprit  de 
corps  was  one  of  the  many  disadvantages  under  which 
our  officers  contended.  That  moral  courage  and  keen 
sense  of  official  honor  which  lead  men  to  prefer  death 
to  professional  disgrace  were  necessarily  wanting  in  the 
undisciplined  body  of  men  who  so  bravely  manned  our 
ships  during  the  Revolution.  It  was  hardly  just, 
therefore,  to  criticise  these  officers  as  if  they  were  a 
properly  organized  body  of  men,  or  to  expect  them  at 
once  to  attain  the  same  degree  of  discipline  to  which 
long  experience  and  practice  had  brought  the  English 
service.  It  is  not  probable  that  the  Boston  could  have 
been  of  any  avail  against  the  superior  force  that  at 
tacked  the  Hancock,  but  had  she  gone  to  the  assistance 
of  the  Fox  there  is  some  reason  to  believe  she  might 
have  prevented  her  recapture.  Even  this,  however,  is 
open  to  question,  for  the  vessels  were  at  the  entrance  of 
the  principal  English  naval  station  in  North  America, 
and  had  the  Boston  become  involved  in  an  engagement 
the  enemy  could  have  sent  out  such  forces  as  would 
have  made  her  escape  impossible.  The  country  de 
nounced  Captain  McNiel  in  unmeasured  terms,  and 
Congress,  obeying  the  dictates  of  popular  clamor,  dis 
missed  him  from  the  service. 

On  the  14th  of  June,  1777,  Congress  resolved  "  that 
the  flag  of  the  thirteen  United  States  shall  be  thirteen 
stripes,  alternate  red  and  white  ;  that  the  union  be 
thirteen  stars,  white  in  a  blue  field,  representing  a  new 
constellation."  The  design  of  this  flag,  the  thirteen 
stripes  representing  the  original  thirteen 'colonies,  and 


1778.  SECOND  ATTACK  ON  NEW  PROVIDENCE.  91 

a  star  for  each  State  of  the  Union,  remains  to  this  day, 
which  makes  the  American  flag,  or  "Old  Glory"  as  it 
has  frequently  been  called,  one  of  the  oldest  among 
the  great  banners  of  the  world.  On  the  1st  of  May, 
1795,  the  number  of  stripes  was  increased  to  fifteen,  so 
as  to  match  the  number  of  stars.  This  was  done  on  the 
admission  of  Vermont  and  Kentucky  into  the  Union, 
and  from  1795  to  1818  the  American  flag  had  fifteen 
stripes.  In  1818  the  number  of  stripes  was  reduced  to 
the  original  thirteen.  The  design  of  the  present  flag 
of  Great  Britain  was  adopted  in  1801,  that  of  Spain  in 
1785,  that  of  France  (the  tricolor,  also  red,  white  and 
blue)  in  1794,  that  of  Portugal  in  1830,  that  of  the  Ger 
man  Empire  in  1871,  and  that  of  Italy  in  1848.  So  the 
American  flag  may  well  be  called  "The  Old  Flag." 

The  year  1778  opened  auspiciously  for  the  cause  of 
the  colonists  on  the  high  seas.  Early  in  January 
Captain  John  P.  Rathbourne,  in  the  12-gun  ship  Provi 
dence,  sailed  for  a  cruise  to  the  south.  Appearing  off 
the  Bahamas,  he  learned  that  the  port  of  New  Prov 
idence  was  poorly  garrisoned,  and,  landing  at  eleven 
o'clock  at  night  on  the  27th  of  January  with  twenty- 
five  men,  at  a  short  distance  from  the  town,  where  he 
was  joined  by  about  thirty  American  prisoners  who 
had  escaped  from  British  prison  ships  at  that  place,  he 
marched  upon  the  town,  seized  the  forts,  and  overawed 
the  inhabitants  with  threats  of  burning  their  houses. 
The  guns  of  the  forts  were  then  turned  on  an  English 
privateer  of  sixteen  guns  lying  in  the  harbor,  and  her 
flag  was  lowered  at  the  first  summons  ;  the  six  remain 
ing  vessels  in  port  also  surrendered.  Late  in  the  after 
noon  the  British  sloop  of  war  Grayton  entered  the 
Roads,  but  being  fired  at  hastily  withdrew.  On  the 
following  day  the  populace  assembled  in  such  numbers 
as  to  place  the  handful  of  Americans  in  a  critical  posi 
tion  ;  and  as  no  advantage  was  to  be  derived  by  hold 
ing  the  town,  Captain  Kathbourne  ordered  the  guns  to 
be  spiked,  and,  having  secured  the  small  arms,  ammu- 


92  THE   STRUGGLE   IX   AMERICAN   WATERS.     1777-1778. 

nition  and  stores,  returned  to  his  ship  without  the 
loss  of  a  man.  Two  of  the  prizes  were  burned,  while 
the  others  sailed  with  the  Providence  for  the  United 
States. 

It  will  be  remembered  that  Captain  Thomas  Thomp 
son  in  1777  was  relieved  of  the  command  of  the  32-gun 
frigate  Raleigh  for  having  deserted  the  Alfred  when 
attacked  by  the  Ariadne  and  the  Ceres.  The  Raleigh 
was  then  placed  under  the  orders  of  Captain  John  Bar 
ry,  who  was  the  commander  of  the  Lexington  in  her 
fight  with  the  Edward.  While  in  charge  of  the  28- 
gun  ship  Effingham,  which  was  blockaded  in  the  Dela 
ware,  this  officer,  with  twenty-seven  men  in  four  boats, 
captured  and  destroyed  a  10-gun  schooner  and  four 
transports  laden  with  freight  for  the  British  army, 
that  were  anchored  off  Port  Penn.^f  On  the  25th  of 
September,  1778,  the  Raleigh  sailed  from  Boston  hav 
ing  under  convoy  two  merchant  ships.  The  vessels 
got  under  way  early  in  the  morning,  and  at  noon 
they  discovered  two  sails  to  the  south,  when  Captain 
Barry  signaled  the  merchantmen  to  haul  close  by  the 
wind  while  he  ran  down  to  reconnoiter.  At  dusk, 
when  the  strangers  had  been  made  out  to  be  English 
frigates,  the  convoy  was  ordered  to  put  back  to  port 
and  the  Raleigli  cleared  for  action.  But  as  night 
came  on  the  Englishmen  were  lost  to  view,  and  Captain 
Barry  resumed  his  course.  The  following  day  dawned 
with  a  heavy  mist  on  the  ocean,  so  that  little  could  be 
seen.  Toward  noon  the  fog  lifted  and  disclosed  the 
enemy  still  to  the  south,  holding  a  course  parallel  to 
that  which  the  Raleigh  had  been  making.  Captain 
Barry  then  changed  his  course  and  crowded  on  every 
stitch  of  canvas,  but  as  the  afternoon  wore  on  the  fog 
settled  down,  again  shutting  the  enemy  out  of  sight. 
Taking  advantage  of  this  the  Raleigh  headed  east 
ward  under  a  press  of  sail  for  the  rest  of  the  afternoon 
and  the  following  night. 

As  day  began  to  break,  September  27th,  sail  was 


1778.        CHASE  OF  THE  32-GUN  FRIGATE  RALEIGH.  93 

shortened  and  the  ship  was  stripped  of  everything 
that  might  attract  the  enemy's  attention.  Captain 
Barry  anxiously  swept  the  horizon  with  his  glass,  and 
as  his  pursuers  were  nowhere  to  be  seen  he  filled  away 
to  the  southeast ;  but  at  9.30  A.  M.  the  enemy  again 
hove  in  sight,  whereupon  Captain  Barry  went  about 
and  stood  on  the  wind  north  by  west.  On  this  point 
of  sailing  the  Raleigh  proved  her  superiority,  and  soon 
dropped  her  pursuers  out  of  sight.  By  noon,  how 
ever,  the  wind  fell  so  that  the  enemy's  leading  ship 
again  appeared  above  the  horizon,  and  this  vessel 
gained  so  rapidly  that  at  4  p.  M.  Captain  Barry  tacked 
to  the  west  so  as  to  ascertain  her  force.  Soon  after 
ward  several  low  islands  were  discovered  ahead,  and 
as  this  rendered  an  engagement  unavoidable  the  Ra 
leigh  luffed  up  to  await  the  attack.  It  was  nearly 
dark  when  the  foremost  ship  came  within  gunshot. 
She  opened  at  long  range,  but  rapidly  closing  ran  under 
the  Raleigh  s  lee  quarter,  where  she  kept  up  a  heavy 
fire.  At  the  second  broadside  the  stranger  gained  an 
advantage  in  manoeuvring  by  the  loss  of  the  Raleigh  s 
fore-topmast  and  mizzen- topgallant  mast,  and  he  availed 
himself  of  it  by  endeavoring  to  rake,  but  Captain  Barry 
frustrated  this  by  bearing  up  so  as  to  bring  the  ships 
side  by  side.  The  near  approach  of  the  enemy's  sec 
ond  ship  rendered  further  resistance  out  of  the  ques 
tion,  so  the  Raleigh  wore  around  and  headed  for  the 
islands  already  mentioned.  The  enemy  promptly  made 
sail  in  chase,  but  about  midnight  hauled  off  on  account 
of  shoaling  water. 

Finding  that  they  had  abandoned  the  pursuit,  Cap 
tain  Barry  changed  his  intention  of  running  his  ship 
aground,  as  the  night  still  afforded  him  an  opportunity 
to  escape,  and,  bending  new  sails,  he  tacked,  but  the 
enemy  anticipated  this  movement  and  again  closed 
upon  him.  The  only  recourse  now  left  was  to  run 
ashore,  so  heading  his  ship  toward  the  island  he  ran 
her  fast  aground.  The  Englishmen  cautiously  followed, 


94  THE  STRUGGLE  IN  AMERICAN  WATERS.  1778. 

and  taking  positions  off  her  quarter  opened  a  heavy 
lire,  to  which  the  Raleigh  replied  with  her  stern  guns, 
and  at  the  same  time  hurried  preparations  were  made 
for  landing  the  crew  and  destroying  the  ship.  A 
part  of  the  men  were  put  ashore,  and  the  boats  were 
returning  for  the  remainder  when  the  ship  surren 
dered. 

The  English  frigates  proved  to  be  the  50-gun  ship 
Experiment ',  Captain  Wallace,  and  the  28-gun  ship 
Unicorn,  the  latter  being  the  one  that  had  engaged 
the  Raleigh.  The  American  loss  was  ten  killed  or 
wounded,  while  that  of  the  Unicorn  was  ten  killed  be 
sides  many  wounded.  The  RaleigJi  afterward  was 
floated  off  and  taken  into  the  British  service.  Captain 
Barry  and  the  men  who  escaped  with  him  landed  on 
an  island  known  as  the  Wooden  Ball,  about  twenty 
miles  from  the  mouth  of  the  Penobscot,  and  after  under 
going  great  hardships  they  reached  the  mainland  and 
finally  gained  the  settlements. 

By  the  close  of  the  year  1778  the  Americans  had 
lost  many  of  their  cruisers,  and  as  Congress  was  unable 
to  replace  them  the  navy  had  been  reduced  to  fourteen 
vessels  of  war  mounting  three  hundred  and  thirty- two 
guns.1  In  the  year  1778  England  had  in  commission 
one  hundred  and  eighty  ships  of  war,  aggregating  six 
thousand  nine  hundred  and  twenty-six  guns.  Of  this 
force,  eighty-nine  ships,  with  a  total  of  two  thousand 

1  The  following  is  the  list :  The  32-gun  ship  Alliance,  the  32-gun  ship 
Confederacy,  the  32-gun  ship  Hague  (or  Deane),  the  32-gun  ship  Warren, 
the  28-gun  ship  Providence,  the  28-gun  ship  Queen  of  France,  the  28-gun 
ship  Trumbull,  the  24-gun  ship  Boston,  the  20-gun  ship  Due  de  Luzun, 
the  18-gun  ship  General  Greene,  the  18-gun  ship  Ranger,  the  18-gun  ship 
Saratoga,  the  12-gun  brig  Providence  and  the  10-gun  cutter  Revenge. 
Prom  this  it  will  be  seen  that,  of  the  fourteen  vessels  purchased  and  fitted 
out  as  cruisers  in  1775,  only  one,  the  12-gun  brig  Providence,  was  still  in 
the  service.  Of  the  thirteen  frigates  ordered  under  the  law  of  December 
13.  1775,  and  built  in  1776,  only  four  remained,  while  of  the  three  cutters 
purchased  by  the  American  commissioners  in  France,  only  the  Revi 
was  retained  in  service. 


1779.  MUTINY   IN  THE  ALLIANCE.  95 

five  hundred  and  seventy-six  guns,  were  stationed  on 
the  North  American  coast. 

Comparative  Forces  in  1778. 

American:  14  vessels  of  war  with  a  total  of    332  guns. 
British:        89  "  "  2,576     " 

In  January,  1779,  the  32-gun  frigate  Alliance  was 
ordered  to  France  for  the  purpose  of  conveying  General 
Lafayette  home,  and,  as  a  compliment  to  the  marquis, 
the  command  of  the  ship  was  given  to  Captain  Pierre 
Landais,  a  French  officer  of  reputed  skill  and  merit. 
The  Alliance  was  one  of  the  new  frigates  ordered  by 
Congress  to  replace  those  destroyed  when  the  enemy 
occupied  Philadelphia,  and  was  so  named  in  honor 
of  the  treaty  which  had  been  concluded  with  France. 
It  was  found  extremely  difficult  to  fill  out  her  com 
plement,  not  only  on  account  of  the  scarcity  of  seamen 
then  beginning  to  be  felt  throughout  the  United  States 
but  because  of  the  prejudice  among  the  men  against 
serving  under  a  foreign  officer.  To  overcome  the  diffi 
culty,  the  authorities  of  Massachusetts  resorted  to 
impressment,  but  the  magnanimous  Lafayette  pro 
tested  against  this  measure  as  being  contrary  to  the 
principles  for  which  they  were  struggling.  The  au 
thorities  then  had  recourse  to  a  still  more  objection 
able  method  of  raising  the  required  number.  Having 
in  custody  some  English  seamen  from  the  ship  of  the 
line  Somerset,  which  had  been  wrecked  on  the  New 
England  coast  the  year  before,  the  State  government 
offered  them  their  liberty  if  they  would  serve  in  the 
Alliance  on  her  passage  to  France.  The  oifer  was 
readily  accepted,  and  these  men,  with  some  French 
sailors  and  a  few  American  volunteers,  made  up  the 
complement,  and  with  this  ill-assorted  crew  the  Alli 
ance  sailed  from  Boston  on  the  llth  of  January,  1779. 

It  was  with  an  unusual  degree  of  anxiety  that  the 
friends  of  General  Lafayette  bade  him  adieu  when  he 
sailed  in  the  care  of  such  a  crew,  nor  were  their  appre- 


96  THE  STRUGGLE  IN  AMERICAN    WATERS.  1779. 

hensions  alleviated  by  the  knowledge  that  Parliament 
had  passed  a  bill  encouraging  sailors  in  American  ships 
to  rise  on  their  officers,  a  munificent  bounty  being 
promised  in  case  they  succeeded  in  bringing  the  vessel 
into  an  English  port.  It  seems  that  the  men  of  the 
Alliance  were  aware  of  this  inducement  to  mutiny,  and 
the  frigate  had  not  been  out  many  days  when  a  con 
spiracy  was  begun  among  the  seventy  or  eighty  British 
seamen,  who  constituted  a  portion  of  the  crew,  and  by 
the  third  week  out  a  well-laid  plot  had  been  developed. 
The  signal  "Sail  ho!"  from  the  masthead  was  to  be 
given  about  daylight  on  the  morning  of  February  2d, 
upon  which  the  mutineers  were  to  form  in  four  divis 
ions  :  one  to  clear  the  quarter-deck  and  kill  any  officer 
that  might  appear,  another  to  secure  the  magazine,  a 
third  to  capture  the  ward  room,  and  the  fourth  to  seize 
the  cabin.  The  four  long  9-pounders  on  the  fore 
castle  were  secretly  loaded  with  grape  and  canister, 
and  trained  so  as  to  sweep  the  after  decks.  All  the 
officers,  the  surgeon,  the  carpenter  and  the  gunners 
were  to  be  killed,  while  the  lieutenants  were  to  have 
the  option  of  navigating  the  ship  to  the  nearest  English 
port  or  of  "walking  the  plank."  The  passengers  were 
to  be  given  up  as  prisoners  on  arrival  in  England. 

At  the  date  settled  on  for  the  perpetration  of  this 
deed  the  Alliance  would  be  about  two  days  from  land ; 
but  on  the  night  of  February  1st  the  conspirators  de 
cided  to  postpone  the  execution  of  their  plot  until  four 
o'clock  in  the  afternoon  of  the  following  day,  so  as  to 
induce  one  of  the  seamen,  who  had  unusual  knowledge 
of  navigation,  to  co-operate  with  them.  This  was  in 
anticipation  of  the  lieutenants  refusing  to  navigate  the 
ship  or  playing  them  false  by  running  her  into  a 
French  port.  Supposing  the  man  in  question  to  be  an 
Irishman,  they  broached  the  subject  to  him,  but  he 
was  an  American  who  had  resided  on  the  Emerald  Isle 
several  years  and  had  acquired  the  brogue.  Feigning 
to  favor  their  scheme,  he  obtained  the  details  of  the 


1779.  MUTINY  IN  THE  ALLIANCE.  97 

plot  and  then  awaited  an  opportunity  to  disclose  it  to 
the  officers.  It  wanted  but  an  hour  of  the  appointed 
time  when  he,  with  much  difficulty,  managed  to  speak 
to  the  officer  of  the  deck  unobserved.  To  him  he  dis 
closed  the  danger,  and  also  named  the  men  who  would 
be  found  faithful  and  would  follow  him  to  any  rallying- 
point.  A  few  minutes  before  four  o'clock  the  officers 
and  passengers,  armed  with  cutlasses  and  firearms, 
rushed  on  deck,  where  they  were  joined  by  the  French 
and  American  sailors  ;  and  the  mutineers,  finding  them 
selves  discovered,  pleaded  for  clemency.  At  this  mo 
ment  an  English  24-gun  ship  hove  in  sight,  but  was 
allowed  to  escape  after  a  little  manoeuvring,  as  the  con 
dition  of  the  crew  made  it  inadvisable  to  give  battle. 
Thirty  or  forty  of  the  mutineers  were  put  in  irons,  and 
on  their  arrival  in  Brest  were  placed  in  prison  to  await 
trial,  but  they  were  afterward  exchanged,  as  Lafayette 
was  adverse  to  any  further  punishment  being  inflicted. 
On  the  18th  of  April,  1779,  a  squadron  under  Captain 
John  Burroughs  Hopkins  (son  of  Esek  Hopkins)  sailed 
from  Boston.  It  consisted  of  the  32-gun  frigate  Warren, 
flagship  ;  the  28-gun  frigate  Queen  of  France,  Captain 
Joseph  Olney ;  and  Captain  John  Paul  Jones'  cele 
brated  18-gun  ship-sloop  Ranger,  now  commanded  by 
Captain  Simpson.  The  Queen  of  France  was  built  in 
France,  and  was  secured  for  our  navy  by  the  efforts  of 
Dr.  Franklin  and  Silas  Deane.  On  the  6th  of  April 
this  squadron  sighted  and  after  a  long  chase  captured 
a  British  privateer  of  fourteen  guns,  and  from  her  peo 
ple  Captain  Hopkins  learned  that  a  fleet  of  armed  trans 
ports  and  storeships  had  sailed  a  few  days  before  from 
New  York,  laden  with  supplies  for  the  British  troops 
in  Georgia  and  South  Carolina.  The  squadron  imme 
diately  filled  away,  hoping  to  come  up  with  the  vessels 
before  they  reached  their  destination.  Late  in  the 
afternoon  of  the  7th  nine  sails  were  made  out  off  the 
starboard  bow.  The  three  cruisers  immediately  cleared 
for  action  and  rapidly  bore  down,  and  after  some  sharp 


98  THE  STRUGGLE  IN  AMERICAN   WATERS.  1779. 

manoeuvring  seven  of  the  transports  —  for  such  the 
strangers  proved  to  be— were  captured,  the  other  two 
escaping  in  the  night.  The  vessels  taken  were  the 
20-gun  ship  Jason,  with  one  hundred  and  fifty  men  ; 
the  16-gun  letter  of  marque  Maria,  with  eighty-four 
men ;  the  8-gun  privateer  Hibernia,  with  forty-five 
men  ;  three  brigs  and  a  schooner  laden  with  supplies 
for  the  British  army.  Among  the  prisoners  were 
Colonel  Campbell  and  twenty  English  army  officers  on 
the  way  to  join  their  regiments.  Of  such  importance 
was  this  capture  that  Captain  Hopkins  immediately  re 
turned  to  Boston  with  his  prizes. 

Early  in  May  the  Queen  of  France,  commanded  by 
Captain  John  P.  Rathbourne,  and  the  Ranger,  again 
got  to  sea,  this  time  accompanied  by  the  28-gun  frigate 
Providence,  Captain  Abraham  Whipple — who  was  en 
gaged  in  the  boat  attack  on  the  British  revenue  schoon 
er  Gaspe  in  June,  1772.  In  July  these  cruisers  fell  in 
with  a  large  fleet  of  merchantmen,  escorted  by  a  74-gun 
ship  of  the  line  and  several  frigates.  By  skillful  ma 
noeuvring  the  American  cruisers  succeeded  in  cutting 
out  eleven  valuable  prizes,  three  of  which  were  recap 
tured  before  reaching  port,  but  the  remaining  eight 
arrived  safely  in  Boston.  Their  cargoes  were  valued 
at  over  a  million  dollars,  so  that  from  a  pecuniary 
point  of  view  this  was  th#  most  successful  cruise  of 
the  war. 

It  is  very  much  to  be  regretted  that  the  records  of 
an  action  between  the  United  States  12-gun  brig  Provi 
dence  and  the  English  brig  Diligent  have  been  lost. 
The  forces  engaged  were  small,  but  from  the  meager 
fragments  that  have  been  preserved  it  seems  that  this 
engagement  called  forth  an  obstinate  resistance  and 
persevering  heroism  that  have  seldom  been  surpassed. 
The  brigs  were  evenly  armed,  the  Providence  com 
manded  by  Captain  Hoysted  Hacker,  and  the  Diligent 
by  Captain  Thomas  Davy  (?).  On  the  7th  of  May,  1779, 
they  met,  and  after  an  hour's  bloody  fighting  the  Dili- 


1779.     ACTION  BETWEEN  THE  HAZARD  AND   ACTIVE.        99 

gent  struck,  having  lost  eight  men  killed  and  nineteen 
wounded,  a  total  of  twenty-seven  out  of  a  crew  of 
fifty-three !  The  Providence  lost  four  killed  and  ten 
wounded.  The  Diligent  was  brought  into  port  and 
was  taken  into  the  service. 

In  the  spring  of  1779  the  Massachusetts  State  cruiser 
Hazard,  commanded  by  John  Foster  Williams,  had  a 
severe  action  with  the  English  18-gun  privateer  Active  ; 
the  Hazard  mounting  fourteen  guns.  After  a  hot  en 
gagement  of  nearly  an  hour  the  Active  struck,  being 
badly  cut  up,  and,  on  boarding,  Mr.  Williams  found 
that  she  had  sustained  a  loss  of  thirty- three  killed  or 
wounded,  while  the  Hazard  reported  a  loss  of  eight. 
For  his  gallantry  on  this  occasion  the  command  of  the 
18-gun  State  cruiser  Protector  was  given  to  Mr.  Wil 
liams  ;  Edward  Preble,  afterward  captain,  serving  in 
the  ship  at  this  time.  On  the  9th  of  July,  1780,  Cap 
tain  Williams  attacked  a  heavy  privateer  called  the 
Admiral  Duff,  and  after  a  sanguinary  action  of  an 
hour  the  privateer  was  blown  up.  Fifty-five  of  her 
men  were  saved,  the  Protector  losing  six  killed  or 
wounded.  Shortly  after  this  the  Protector  was  chased 
by  the  British  32-gun  frigate  Thames,  but  escaped  by 
superior  seamanship. 

For  the  purpose  of  establishing  a  secure  and  con 
venient  naval  station  nearer  to  the  seat  of  war  the 
enemy  erected  a  fort  near  the  mouth  of  the  Penobscot, 
and  as  this  proved  a  source  of  irritation  to  Massa 
chusetts  that  State  determined  to  dislodge  the  English 
at  her  own  expense.  Accordingly,  fifteen  hundred 
militia,  under  the  command  of  General  Solomon  Lovell, 
were  embarked  in  thirteen  privateers  and  transports. 
This  fleet  was  accompanied  by  the  following  Conti 
nental  cruisers :  The  32-gun  frigate  Warren,  Captain 
Dudley  Saltonstall ;  the  14-gun  brig  Diligent,  Captain 
Brown  ;  and  the  12-gun  brig  Providence,  Captain  Hoy- 
sted  Hacker  ;  the  entire  marine  force  being  commanded 
by  Captain  Saltonstall,  of  the  Warren.  The  expedi- 


100  THE   STRUGGLE  IN  AMERICAN   WATERS.  1779. 

tion  appeared  off  the  Penobscot  on  the  25th  of  July, 
1779,  and  after  landing  the  troops  the  fleet  opened  a 
heavy  fire  on  the  fort,  but  finding  its  armament  inade 
quate  it  soon  drew  off  to  await  re-enforcements.  In  the 
meantime  the  news  of  the  intended  attack  reached  New 
York,  and  on  the  13th  of  August  Sir  George  Collier  ap 
peared  with  the  64-gun  ship  of  the  line  Raisonnable,  the 
32-gun  frigate  Greyhound,  the  32-gun  frigate  Blonde, 
the  32-gun  frigate  Virginia,  the  20-gun  sloop  Galatea, 
the  20-gun  sloop  Camilla  and  the  14-gun  brig  Otter. 
The  18-gun  sloop  Nautilus,  the  14-gun  brig  Albany 
and  the  14-gun  brig  North  were  at  the  Penobscot  be 
fore  the  arrival  of  Sir  George. 

At  the  first  alarm  the  American  privateers  scattered 
in  all  directions,  each  vessel  seeking  its  own  safety  re 
gardless  of  signals  from  the  Warren.  The  three  Con 
tinental  cruisers,  with  some  of  the  privateers  and  trans 
ports,  were  compelled  to  run  up  the  river,  where  they 
were  destroyed  to  prevent  their  falling  into  the  hands 
of  the  enemy;  the  crews  and  militia,  after  enduring 
great  hardships,  reached  the  settlements.  By  this  dis 
aster  the  United  States  lost  three  of  its  few  remaining 
war  vessels,  and  privateering  also  received  a  heavy 
blow. 

On  the  2d  of  August,  1779,  the  32-gun  frigate  Deane 
(or  Hague),  Captain  SamueL Nicholson,  and  the  24-gun 
frigate  Boston,  Captain  Samuel  Tucker,  made  a  short 
cruise  in  company,  during  which  they  secured  six 
prizes  aggregating  fifty-four  guns.  Among  the  vessels 
taken  were  the  16-gun  packet  Sandwich,  the  20-gun 
privateer  Glencairn  and  the  18-gun  privateer  Thorn. 
Captain  Tucker,  who  commanded  the  Boston  on  this 
occasion,  was  one  of  the  most  successful  officers  in  the 
service.  While  in  charge  of  a  small  schooner  in  1776 
he  captured,  after  a  desperate  action  of  two  hours  and 
a  half,  a  British  transport  laden  with  military  stores. 
While  commanding  the  State  cruisers  Hancock  and 
Franklin  he  secured  about  thirty  English  vessels.  For 


1779.     THE  SERVICES  OP  CAPTAIN  SAMUEL  TUCKER.      101 

these  services  he  was  appointed  to  the  command  of 
the  24-gun  frigate  Boston,  on  the  15th  of  March,  1777, 
and  in  February,  1778,  he  took  John  Adams  to  France. 
Returning  to  the  United  States  in  June,  1779,  he  se 
cured  five  prizes,  and  then  convoyed  a  fleet  of  mer 
chantmen,  laden  with  clothing  bought  in  Holland  for 
the  American  army,  from  the  West  Indies  to  Phila 
delphia.  Soon  after  this  he  sailed  on  a  cruise  in  the 
Confederacy.  After  his  cruise  in  the  Deane,  in  Au 
gust,  1779,  he  sailed  in  the  Boston  in  the  same  year, 
to  join  the  squadrtm  under  Captain  Abraham  W hippie 
to  assist  in  the  defense  of  Charleston.  On  the  sur 
render  of  that  place  he  was  made  a  prisoner,  but  was 
exchanged  for  Captain  Wardlaw,  whom  he  had  cap 
ture^  in  the  Thorn.  Returning  to  Boston  in  1780,  he 
sailed  in  the  Thorn  and  captured  seven  vessels ;  but 
in  July,  1781,  the  Thorn  was  captured  by  the  British 
cruiser  Hind,  and  he  was  again  made  prisoner. 

Thus  far  English  commerce  had  suifered  unprece 
dented  losses  at  the  hands  of  American  cruisers  and 
privateers.  On  the  6th  of  February,  1778,  Mr.  Wood- 
bridge  testified  at  the  bar  of  the  House  of  Lords  that 
"the  number  of  ships  lost  by  capture  or  destroyed  by 
American  privateers  since  the  commencement  of  the 
war  is  seven  hundred  and  thirty- three,  of  which,  after 
deducting  for  those  retaken  and  restored,  there  re 
mained  five  hundred  and  fifty-nine,  the  value  of  which, 
including  the  ships,  cargoes,  etc.,  amounted,  upon  a 
very  moderate  calculation,  to  £1,800,633  18s.  .  .  .  The 
alderman  further  stated  that  the  average  value  of  a 
ship  and  cargo  trading  to  Jamaica  was  £8,000  on  her 
outward  and  £10,000  on  her  homeward  voyage.  .  .  . 
That  insurance  before  the  war  was  two  per  cent  to 
America,  and  two  and  a  half  per  cent  to  North  Caro 
lina,  Jamaica,  etc.  That  insurance  to  America,  Africa 
and  the  West  Indies  was  now  more  than  double,  even 
with  the  convoy,  and  without  the  convoy,  unless  the 
ship  was  a  ship  of  force,  fifteen  per  cent.  William 


102  THE  STRUGGLE  IN  AMERICAN   WATERS.  1778. 

Creighton,  Esq.,  not  only  corroborated  the  alderman 
in  the  most  material  points,  but  added  many  new  facts 
which  had  fallen  within  his  own  knowledge.  He 
stated  the  losses  suffered  by  the  merchants  in  con 
sequence  of  the  captures  made  by  the  American  priva 
teers  to  have  amounted  to  at  least  £2,000,000  in  October 
last,  and  that  by  this  time  they  could  not  be  less  than 
£2, 200,000."* 

Records  of  Parliament,  vol.  xix,  pp.  707-711. 


CHAPTER  VI. 

SECOND    CRUISE   OF   CAPTAIN   JOHN   PAUL    JONES. 

ON  returning  to  Brest  after  his  successful  cruise  in 
the  Ranger,  May  8,  1778,  Captain  John  Paul  Jones  en 
deavored  to  secure  a  better  and  larger  ship  with  which 
to  operate  off  the  coasts  of  England.  He  wrote  to  Dr. 
Franklin,  June  1,  1778:  "The  Ranger  is  crank,  sails 
slow,  and  is  of  trifling  force.  Most  of  the  enemy's 
cruisers  are  more  than  a  match."  After  many  months 
of  vexatious  delay  he  received  the  following  letter  from 
the  French  Minister  of  the  Marine  : 

"  VERSAILLES,  February  4,  1779. 

"  To  JOHN  PAUL   JONES,    Esq.,   Commander  of   the 

American  Navy  in  Europe. 

"SiK:  I  announce  to  you  that  his  Majesty  has 
thought  proper  to  place  under  your  command  the  ship 
Duras,  of  forty  guns,  at  present  at  L'Orient.  I  am 
about,  in  consequence,  to  issue  the  necessary  orders 
for  the  complete  armament  of  said  ship.  The  com 
mission  which  was  given  you  at  your  departure  from 
America  will  authorize  you  to  hoist  the  flag  of  the 
United  States,  and  you  will  likewise  serve  yourself 
with  powers  which  have  been  remitted  to  you  to  form 
your  equipage  with  American  subjects ;  but  as  you 
may  find  too  much  difficulty  in  raising  a  sufficient 
number,  the  King  permits  you  to  levy  volunteers  until 
you  have  a  sufficient  number,  exclusive  of  those  who 
are  necessary  to  manoeuvre  the  ship. 

"  [Signed]  DE  SARTINE. 

(103) 


104          SECOND  CRUISE  OF  CAPTAIN  PAUL  JONES.        1779. 

"  P.  S.— According  to  your  desire,  sir,  I  consent 
that  the  Duras  takes  the  name  of  the  BonJiomme 
Richard." 

The  following  extract  from  Sherburne's  Life  of 
Captain  Jones  explains  the  reason  for  changing  the 
name  of  the  Due  de  Duras  :  "  It  is  a  fact  not  generally 
known  that  the  late  John  Paul  Jones,  at  the  time  that 
he  was  attempting  to  fit  out  a  small  squadron  during 
the  late  war  in  one  of  the  ports  of  France,  to  cruise  on 
the  coast  of  England,  was  much  delayed  by  neglects 
and  disappointments  from  the  court  that  nearly  frus 
trated  his  plans.  Chance  one  day  threw  into  his  hands 
an  old  almanac  containing  Poor  Kichard's  Maxims,  by 
Dr.  Franklin.  In  that  curious  assemblage  of  useful 
information  a  man  is  advised,  '  if  he  wishes  to  have 
business  faithfully  and  expeditiously  performed,  to  go 
on  it  himself  ;  otherwise,  send.'  Jones  was  imme 
diately  struck,  npon  reading  this  maxim,  with  the  im 
propriety  of  his  conduct  in  sending  letters  and  mes 
sages  to  court  when  he  ought  to  have  gone  in  person. 
He  instantly  set  out,  and  by  dint  of  personal  repre 
sentation  procured  the  immediate  equipment  of  the 
squadron  which  afterward  spread  terror  along  the 
eastern  coast  of  England.  In  gratitude  to  Dr.  Frank 
lin  he  named  the  principal  ship  of  his  squadron  the 
name  of  the  pretended  almanac-maker,  le  Bonhomme 
Richard" 

The  Due  de  Duras,  or  the  Bonhomme  Richard,  as 
she  is  known  in  American  history,  proved  to  be  an 
antiquated  India  merchant  ship,  and  had  one  of  the 
high  old-fashioned  poops  that  caused  the  sterns  of  the 
ships  launched  in  the  early  part  of  the  eighteenth  cen 
tury  to  resemble  towers.  On  being  fitted  for  the  India 
trade  she  carried  her  armament  as  a  single-deck  ship, 
with  the  usual  forecastle  and  quarter-deck  guns.  As 
she  had  unusually  high  sides,  Captain  Jones  caused 
twelve  ports,  six  on  a  side,  to  be  cut  in  the  lower  gun 


1779.        THE  VESSELS  COMPRISING  THE  SQUADRON.         1Q5 

room.  Here  six  old  18-pounders  were  mounted,  which 
in  smooth  water  could  be  used  to  advantage,  but  in 
rough  weather  the  ports  were  necessarily  closed.  On 
her  main  deck  the  Bonhomme  Richard  was  pierced  for 
twenty-eight  guns,  which  was  the  usual  armament  of 
the  old  English  38-gun  frigate.  For  these  ports  Cap 
tain  Jones  ordered  18-pounders,  but  as  they  could  not 
be  procured  in  time  he  substituted  12-pounders.  On 
the  quarter-deck  and  forecastle  eight  9-pounders  were 
mounted,  giving  in  all  forty- two  guns.1  The  following 
extract  from  a  letter  from  General  Lafayette  to  Cap 
tain  Jones  will  give  an  inkling  as  to  the  quality  of  the 
Bonliomme  Richard? s  armament:  "I  think  you  are 
extremely  right  in  refusing  such  guns  as  would  expose 
your  reputation,  the  lives  of  your  men,  and  even  the 
honor  of  your  flag." 

On  the  arrival  in  France  of  the  32-gun  frigate 
Alliance,  Captain  Pierre  Landais,  as  narrated  in  the 
last  chapter,  she  was  placed  under  the  orders  of  Cap 
tain  Jones.  A  third  vessel,  the  Pallas,  Captain  Denis 
Nicholas  Cottineau,  also  a  merchantman,  was  pur 
chased,  armed  with  thirty  guns,2  and  fitted  out  for  the 
expedition.  A  merchant  brig  called  the  Vengeance, 
Captain  Ricot,  also  was  purchased  and  armed,  while 
the  fifth  vessel  of  the  squadron  was  the  18-gun  cutter 
Cerf*  The  Cerf  and  the  Alliance  were  the  only  ves 
sels  in  the  squadron  built  for  war  purposes. 

When,  after  strenuous  efforts,  these  vessels  were 
secured,  the  still  more  difficult  task  of  manning  them 
remained.  We  have  already  seen  that  it  was  only  by 
great  exertions  that  a  crew  for  the  Alliance,  even  in  an 
American  port,  was  finally  enlisted,  owing  to  the  great 
scarcity  of  seamen  then  beginning  to  be  felt  throughout 
the  United  States.  The  mutiny  which  broke  out  in 
that  frigate  soon  after  sailing  showed  the  kind  of  men 
with  which  commanders  at  that  period  of  the  war  had 

1  Official  report  of  Captain  Jones.  >2  Ibid.  3  Ibid. 

10 


106          SECOND  CRUISE  OP  CAPTAIN  PAUL  JONES.        1779. 

to  deal.  From  these  circumstances  we  get  some  idea 
of  the  difficulties  Captain  Jones  had  in  securing  seamen 
for  his  squadron  in  a  foreign  port.  But  Captain  Jones 
was  indefatigable,  and,  after  surmounting  the  most  for 
midable  obstacles,  he  brought  together  a  barely  suffi 
cient  number  of  men.  Undesirable  and  inefficient  as  the 
crew  of  the  Alliance  had  proved  to  be,  the  comple 
ments  which  finally  were  secured  for  the  vessels  of  this 
squadron  were  much  worse.  Of  all  the  motley  and  in 
congruous  gatherings  that  have  assembled  in  a  vessel  of 
war,  perhaps  the  crew  of  the  Bonhomme  Richard  was 
the  most  remarkable  in  point  of  variety.  Her  muster 
roll  showed  that  the  men  hailed  from  America,  France, 
Italy,  Ireland,  Germany,  Scotland,  Sweden,  Switzer 
land,  England,  Spain,  India,  Norway,  Portugal,  Fayal 
and  Malaisia,  while  there  were  seven  Maltese,  and  the 
knight  of  the  ship's  galley  was  from  Africa.  Among 
the  officers,  however,  the  American  element  predomi 
nated. 

The  first  design  of  this  expedition  was  an  attack  on 
Liverpool.1  General  Lafayette,  with  six  hundred  and 
fifty  dragoons  and  soldiers,  was  to  embark  in  the  ships, 
sail  directly  for  the  Mersey,  and,  after  having  laid  that 
great  shipping  port  either  in  ashes  or  under  ransom, 
put  back  to  France  before  the  alarm  could  be  given. 
Before  these  arrangements  could  be  completed  Lafay 
ette  was  ordered  to  take  command  of  the  King's  regi 
ments,  which  necessitated  the  abandonment  of  the  land 
attack,  but  Captain  Jones  still  determined  on  a  cruise 
around  the  coast  of  Great  Britain. 

On  the  19th  of  June,  1779,  this  remarkable  squad 
ron  sailed  from  L'Orient.  Taking  a  course  to  the  south, 
it  convoyed  several  merchantmen  into  the  Loire  and  the 
tlaronne  to  Bordeaux.  The  defects  of  the  organization 
immediately  came  to  the  surface,  and  disputes  arose 
even  as  to  who  was  the  commander  of  the  expedition. 

1  General  Lafayette  to  Captain  Jones. 


1779. 


LANDAIS  ARROGATES  THE  COMMAND. 


107 


Bordea 


Captain  Landais,  whose  eccentricities  had  prevented 
his  employment  in  the  French  navy,  claimed  seniority 

by  virtue  of  his  com 
mission,  stoutly  main 
taining  that  his  had 
been  issued  directly 
from  the  American  Con 
gress,  and  that  of  Cap 
tain  Jones  had  come 
only  from  Dr.  Frank 
lin.  As  to  the  matter 
of  dates,  the  commis 
sion  of  Captain  Jones 
—which,  as  we  have 
seen,  was  issued  direct 
ly  from  the  American 
Congress  -  -  antedated 
that  of  Landais  by 
nineteen  months.  The 
Committee  on  Foreign  Affairs  in 
formed  the  American  commission 
ers  in  France  that  Captain  Jones 
"  takes  with  him  his  commission 
to  France."1  Dr.  Franklin,  more 
over,  duly  authorized  by  Congress, 
had  appointed  Captain  Jones  as  the  commander  of  this 
squadron.2  The  absurdity  of  the  claims  of  Captain 
Landais  is  but  one  of  the  many  evidences  that  we 
shall  have  of  his  mental  derangement. 

"  PHILADELPHIA,  9th  May,  1777. 

'"  GENTLEMEN  :  This  letter  is  intended  to  be  deliv 
ered  to  you  by  John  Paul  Jones,  an  active  and  brave 
commander  in  our  navy.  Our  design  of  sending  him 
is  (with  the  approbation  of  Congress)  that  you  may 
purchase  one  of  those  fine  frigates  that  Mr.  Deane 

1  Sparks'  Diplomatic  Correspondence,  vol.  i,  p.  290. 

2  Dr.  Franklin  to  Captain  Jones,  April  28,  1779. 


The  second  cruise  of  Cap 
tain  Jones  in  British 
waters. 


108          SECOND  CRUISE  OF  CAPTAIN  PAUL  JONES.        1779. 

writes  us  you  can  get,  and  invest  him  with  the  com 
mand  thereof  as  soon  as  possible. 

"  [Signed]       ROBERT  MORRIS,  1 

RICHARD  HENRY  LEE,  I 


, 

WILLIAM  WHIPPLE,  F.°Lei9\ 

PHILIP  LIVINGSTON,  Affairs. 


Lack  of  seamanship  and  ordinary  discipline  also 
became  apparent  at  the  outset.  On  the  night  of  their 
departure  the  Bonhomme  Richard  and  the  Alliance, 
by  palpable  mismanagement,  aggravated  no  doubt  by 
a  Babel  of  tongues,  fouled  and  narrowly  escaped  seri 
ous  disaster.  As  it  was,  the  Bonhomme  Richard  lost 
her  head  and  cutwater,  sprit-sail  yard  and  jib-boom, 
while  the  Alliances  mizzenmast  was  carried  away. 
The  collision  made  a  return  to  port  necessary,  and 
this,  together  with  a  tedious  investigation  into  the 
causes  of  the  accident,  made  another  vexatious  delay, 
so  that  it  was  nearly  two  months,  or  the  14th  of  Au 
gust,  before  the  squadron  again  got  under  way. 

While  returning  to  L'Orient  for  repairs  the  squad 
ron  came  in  sight  of  three  British  cruisers  that  were 
coming  down  as  if  to  engage,  but,  getting  close  enough 
to  make  out  the  height  of  the  Bonhomm.e  Richards 
sides,  they  probably  took  her  for  a  two-decker  and 
made  their  escape  under  press  of  sail.  This  occurred 
on  the  22d  of  June,  and  on  the  29th  of  June,  while 
the  American  flagship  was  alone  off  the  Penmarks, 
two  of  the  enemy's  cruisers  bore  down  on  her,  but 
these  also  put  about  to  escape,  probably  mistaking  the 
Bonhomme  Richard  for  a  two-decker.  In  the  mean 
time  the  Cerf  had  given  chase  to  an  English  war  vessel 
of  fourteen  guns.  A  warm  action  ensued,  and  after  a 
brave  resistance  the  Englishman  struck.  But  a  superior 
force  appeared  at  this  moment,  and  Captain  Varage 
was  compelled  to  abandon  his  prize.  He  then  returned 
to  port  for  repairs.  Several  men  were  killed  or  wound 
ed  in  the  Cerf. 


1779.  VALUABLE  RE-ENFORCEMENTS.  1Q9 

While  the  squadron  was  thus  detained  at  L'Orient, 
one  hundred  and  nineteen  exchanged  American  pris 
oners  arrived  in  a  cartel  at  Nantes,  and  on  hearing  of 
the  proposed  expedition  most  of  them  enlisted  and 
were  taken  aboard  the  Bonhomme  Richard.  This  was 
an  invaluable  re-enforcement,  and  in  a  great  measure  it 
was  instrumental  in  bringing  about  better  discipline 
and  organization  in  the  crew.  Soon  afterward  Captain 
Jones  received  another  acquisition  to  his  squadron  in 
the  person  of  Richard  Dale.  This  officer  had  been 
master's  mate  in  the  Lexington,  and  after  making  his 
escape  from  Mill  Prison,  as  narrated  in  Chapter  IV,  he 
learned  of  the  force  fitting  out  under  Captain  Jones, 
and  hastening  to  L'Orient  offered  his  services.  He  was 
made  first  lieutenant  in  the  Bonliomme  Richard,  the 
second  lieutenant  being  Henry  Lunt. 

While  the  Bonhomme  Richard  was  undergoing 
repairs  at  L'Orient  Captain  Jones  wrote  to  Dr.  Frank 
lin  :  "I  have  inspected  the  Bonhomme  Richard,  and 
it  is  the  constructor's  opinion  that  she  is  too  old  to  ad 
mit  of  the  necessary  alterations.  Thus  circumstanced, 
I  wish  to  have  an  opportunity  of  attempting  an  essen 
tial  service  to  render  myself  worthy  of  a  better  and 
faster-sailing  ship." 

On  the  14th  of  August,  1779,  the  squadron  again 
sailed,  this  time  accompanied  by  the  French  privateers 
Monsieur  and  Granmlle.  Captain  Jones  wrote  to  De 
Sartine,  the  Minister  of  Marine,  that  the  Bonhomme 
Richard's  complement  numbered  three  hundred  and 
eighty  officers,  men  and  boys,  inclusive  of  "one  hun 
dred  and  thirty-seven  marine  soldiers."  On  the  18th 
a  large  ship  belonging  to  Holland,  in  the  hands  of  a 
British  prize  crew,  was  captured.  During  the  night 
the  commander  of  the  Monsieur  appropriated  such 
articles  from  the  prize  as  he  wished,  and  then  put  her 
in  charge  of  one  of  his  officers  with  instructions  to  make 
for  port.  Captain  Jones  resented  this  infringement  on 
his  authority,  and  promptly  reversed  the  Frenchman's 


HO          SECOND  CRUISE  OF  CAPTAIN  PAUL  JONES.        1779. 

orders  and  sent  the  prize  into  L'Orient.  Taking  offense 
at  this,  the  commanders  of  both  the  Monsieur  and  the 
Granmlle,  on  the  evening  of  the  following  day,  sepa 
rated  from  the  squadron  and  did  not  again  join  it.  The 
Monsieur  subsequently  was  captured  by  the  enemy. 

On  the  21st,  a  brigantine  from  Limerick  for  London 
was  seized  and  sent  into  L'Orient,  and  on  the  23d  the 
squadron  made  Cape  Clear.  In  the  evening,  while  the 
Americans  were  chasing  another  brigantine  in  the  vicin 
ity  of  some  dangerous  rocks  called  the  Shallocks,  the 
wind  failed  and  it  became  necessary  to  send  the  boats 
ahead  of  the  Bonhomme  Richard  to  tow.  Seizing  a  fa 
vorable  moment,  the  men  in  the  barge,  wrho  were  Eng 
lishmen,  cut  the  line  and  made  a  dash  for  the  shore. 
The  sailing  master,  Cutting  Lunt,  hastily  manned  an 
other  boat  and  with  four  armed  soldiers  started  in  pur 
suit.  After  they  had  pulled  a  long  distance  from  the 
ship  a  heavy  fog  settled  on  the  water,  completely  shut 
ting  out  of  view  any  object  more  than  a  boat's  length 
away.  This,  together  with  the  oncoming  night,  not  only 
enabled  the  deserters  to  make  good  their  escape,  but 
prevented  the  pursuing  boat  from  rejoining  the  ship, 
by  which  mishap  Captain  Jones  lost  a  valuable  officer 
and  twenty-three  men.  The  deserters  landed  the  next 
morning  at  Ballinskellix,  County  Kerry,  and  gave  no 
tice  of  the  presence  of  the  American  squadron.  Two 
days  later  Sailing-Master  Lunt  reached  the  same  place 
with  his  men  and  was  sent  to  Mill  Prison.  In  a  year 
or  two  he  was  liberated,  but  soon  afterward  he  was  lost 
at  sea.  He  was  a  distant  relative  of  Henry  Lunt,  the 
Bonhomme  Richard? s  second  lieutenant,  both  of  them 
being  natives  of  New  Hampshire. 

On  the  following  afternoon,  August  24th,  Captain 
Landais  came  aboard  the  flagship  and  exhibited  so 
much  insubordination  that  Captain  Jones  more  than 
ever  doubted  the  soundness  of  his  mind.  He  wrote  to 
Dr.  Franklin :  "In  the  afternoon  Captain  Landais  came 
aboard  the  Bonhomme  Richard  and  behaved  toward 


1779.  THE   CRUISERS  SCATTERED  BY   A  GALE. 

me  with  great  disrespect,  affirming  in  the  most  insolent 
manner  and  language  that  I  had  lost  my  boats  and  peo 
ple  through  my  imprudence  in  sending  boats  to  take  a 
prize  !  He  persisted  in  his  reproaches,  though  he  was 
assured  by  Messrs.  De  Weibert  and  Be  Chamillard  that 
the  barge  was  towing  the  ship  at  the  time  of  the  elope 
ment,  and  that  she  had  not  been  sent  in  pursuit  of  the 
prize.  He  was  affronted  because  I  would  not,  the  day 
before,  suffer  him  to  chase  without  my  orders,  and  to 
approach  the  dangerous  rocks  [the  Shallocks]  where  he 
was  an  entire  stranger  and  where  there  was  not  suffi 
cient  wind  to  govern  a  ship.  He  told  me  that  he  was 
the  only  American  in  the  squadron,  and  was  determined 
to  follow  his  own  opinion  in  chasing  when  and  where 
he  thought  proper,  and  in  every  other  matter  that  con 
cerned  the  service,  and  that  if  I  continued  in  that  situa 
tion  three  days  longer  the  squadron  would  be  taken." 

As  a  heavy  gale  came  up  on  the  morning  of  the 
26th,  Captain  Jones  gave  the  signal  to  sail  northward. 
On  the  following  day  only  the  captured  brigantine  and 
the  Vengeance  could  be  seen  from  the  flagship.  Skirt 
ing  along  the  western  coast  of  Ireland  and  Scotland 
in  a  leisurely  manner,  these  vessels  on  the  31st  made 
the  Flannen  Islands.  The  next  day,  September  1st, 
while  they  were  chasing  a  vessel  to  windward,  two 
large  ships  appeared  in  the  northwest.  These  proved 
to  be  the  Alliance  and  a  prize  from  Liverpool  for  Que 
bec.  Upon  ascertaining  this,  Captain  Jones  resumed 
his  pursuit  of  the  sail  to  windward.  The  swift-sailing 
Alliance  also  joined  in  the  pursuit  and  by  noon  had 
the  stranger  under  her  guns.  She  proved  to  be  a  letter 
of  marque  from  London  for  Quebec,  laden  with  naval 
stores  for  an  armament  on  the  Great  Lakes.  Such  was 
the  terror  inspired  by  American  cruisers  and  privateers 
that  this  ship,  like  many  others,  had  made  the  circuit 
to  the  north  of  Scotland  rather  than  take  the  direct 
course  from  London  to  the  New  World,  which  was 
vigilantly  watched  by  American  ships. 


112          SECOND  CRUISE  OF  CAPTAIN   PAUL  JONES.        1779. 

Captain  Jones  then  weathered  Cape  Wrath  and 
made  for  the  first  rendezvous,  hoping  to  fall  in  with 
the  Pallas  and  the  Cerf.  On  the  2d  of  September 
chase  was  given  to  a  large  sail  which  proved  to  be  the 
Pallas,  Captain  Cottineau  reporting  that  his  ship's 
steering  gear  had  become  disabled  during  the  gale  of 
August  26th.  The  next  day  the  squadron  doubled 
Fair  Isle  and  stood  for  the  second  rendezvous  with  the 
expectation  of  meeting  the  Cerf,  which  cutter  had  not 
been  seen  since  the  23d  of  August.  But  the  Cerf 
again  failed  to  appear. 

On  the  4th  of  September  a  pilot  from  Shetland 
boarded  the  Bonhomme  Richard  and  gave  Captain 
Jones  such  information  as  to  induce  him  to  call  a 
council  of  his  captains  to  decide  on  their  future  move 
ments.  The  signal  to  repair  to  the  flagship  was  obeyed 
by  all  the  commanders  with  the  exception  of  Captain 
Landais.  To  him  Captain  Jones  issued  several  orders, 
and  finding  them  unnoticed  he  sent  a  written  com 
mand.  This  called  forth  a  disrespectful  response  from 
that  erratic  Frenchman,  upon  which  the  council  pro 
ceeded  without  him.  It  was  now  decided  to  make  for 
the  third  and  last  rendezvous,  and  if  they  did  not  find 
the  Cerf  there  to  continue  the  cruise  without  her.  As 
that  cutter  again  failed  to  appear,  Captain  Jones  stood 
down  the  eastern  coast  of  Scotland. 

Land  was  not  seen  again  until  late  in  the  afternoon 
of  the  13th,  when  the  Cheviot  hills  were  descried. 
During  all  this  time  the  Alliance  assumed  the  most 
independent  course,  paying  no  attention  to  signals  from 
the  flagship,  and  on  the  8th  disappeared  altogether 
to  the  east.  This  left  the  Bonhomme  Richard  with 
only  the  Pallas  and  the  Vengeance. 

Learning  that  a  British  sloop  of  war  of  twenty  guns 
was  at  anchor  in  the  Firth  of  Forth,  Captain  Jones 
resolved  to  capture  her,  and  at  the  same  time  secure 
a  large  contribution  from  the  people  under  threat  of 
laying  the  city  of  Leith  in  ashes.  While  working  up 


1779.  INSUBORDINATION. 

to  windward  of  the  Firth  of  Forth  for  this  purpose, 
the  cruisers  had  come  almost  within  reach  of  the  town 
when  a  heavy  gale  carried  them  out  to  sea.  The 
wind  blew  with  such  violence  that  a  prize,  taken  on 
the  14th,  foundered,  and  it  was  with  the  greatest  diffi 
culty  that  her  people  were  rescued.  Before  the  attempt 
on  Leith  could  be  renewed  the  country  had  been 
thoroughly  alarmed,  and  troops  from  Edinburgh,  only 
a  mile  distant,  were  hurried  down  to  defend  the  place. 

Captain  Cottineau,  of  the  Pallas,  and  Captain  Ricot, 
of  the  Vengeance,  now  began  to  give  indications  of  in 
subordination,  both  urging  the  necessity  of  leaving  the 
English  coast,  as  the  country  was  aroused  and  many 
war  ships  had  been  sent  to  intercept  them.  Captain 
Cottineau  finally  intimated  that,  if  the  order  to  leave 
these  waters  was  not  given  by  the  21st  or  the  22d,  both 
he  and  Captain  Ricot  would  abandon  the  Bonhomme 
Richard  to  her  fate.  On  the  19th  the  Vengeance  dis 
appeared  to  the  south  in  pursuit  of  several  vessels,  and 
soon  afterward  the  Pallas  followed  with  all  the  prizes, 
leaving  the  flagship  quite  alone.  Skirting  along  the 
Northumberland  coast  the  Bonhomme  Richard,  on  the 
20th,  again  fell  in  with  the  Pallas  and  the  Vengeance, 
and  Captain  Cottineau  reported  that  he  had  sunk  one 
of  the  vessels  chased  the  day  before  and  had  ransomed 
the  others ;  which  was  in  disobedience  of  strict  orders. 

On  the  21st,  while  the  squadron  was  off  Flam- 
borough  Head,  two  sails  were  discovered  and  chased, 
the  Pallas  making  after  that  to  the  northeast,  while 
the  Bonhomme  Richard,  followed  by  the  Vengeance, 
went  in  pursuit  of  the  one  in  the  southwest.  The 
latter,  a  brigantine  collier  from  Scarborough,  was  soon 
overtaken  and  sunk.  Toward  evening  several  sails 
appeared  to  the  south.  Giving  chase,  Captain  Jones 
drove  one  of  the  vessels  ashore  between  Flamborough 
and  Spurn  Head,  and  soon  afterward  another  brigan 
tine  was  taken.  By  daylight  of  the  22d  the  Pallas 
was  nowhere  to  be  seen. 


CHAPTER  VII. 

THE   BONHOMME   RICHARD   AND   THE   SERAPIS. 

THE  Bonhomme  Richard  and  the  Vengeance  were 
now  off  the  mouth  of  the  Humber.  Here  two  pilots 
were  decoyed  aboard,  from  whom  Captain  Jones 
learned  that  the  entire  coast  was  in  the  wildest  state  of 
excitement ;  that  the  force  of  the  American  squadron 
had  been  exaggerated  to  ridiculous  proportions ;  and 
that  the  people  were  burying  their  plate  and  other 
valuables.  Sir  Walter  Scott  said  that  he  "well  re 
membered  the  feeling  excited  by  the  appearance  of 
Jones'  squadron."  So  ignorant  were  the  English  of 
the  true  character  of  the  American  ships  that  a  mem 
ber  of  Parliament  sent  a  boat  aboard  the  Bonhomme 
Richard  with  a  request  for  powder  and  shot,  saying 
that  he  had  heard  that  "Paul  Jones  was  on  the  coast, 
and  he  wished  to  be  ready  for  him."  Captain  Jones 
sent  a  barrel  of  powder,  but  informed  the  honorable 
gentleman  that  he  did  not  have  shot  of  the  desired 
size.  By  this  time  the  squadron  had  nearly  completed 
the  circuit  of  Great  Britain,  and  had  taken  about 
seventeen  vessels,  many  of  which  were  destroyed,  but 
the  more  valuable  cargoes  had  been  sent  into  port  in 
charge  of  prize  crews.  These  drafts  of  seamen  had 
seriously  weakened  the  crews,  and  that  of  the  Bon 
Tiomme  Richard  numbered  now  only  three  hundred 
and  twenty  men.  In  view  of  these  facts  and  the  dan 
ger  of  remaining  too  long  in  one  place,  Captain  Jones 
headed  northward,  so  as  to  double  Flamborough  Head, 
at  which  place  the  Pallas  was  last  seen.  During  the 
night  two  sails  were  chased,  which  on  the  following 

(114) 


1779.  THE  ENEMY  SIGHTED.  115 

morning  proved  to  be  the  Pallas  and  the  Alliance,  the 
latter  having  been  absent  for  two  weeks. 

About  noon  of  this  day,  September  23d,  while  the 
American  squadron,  in  chase  of  a  brigantine,  was  near- 
ing  Flamborough  Head  from  the  south,  a  large  sail, 
promptly  followed  by  several  others,  suddenly  round 
ed  that  promontory  from  the  north.  This  apparition 
was  immediately  followed  by  other  ships,  which  came 
into  view  one  after  the  other  in  quick  succession. 
The  Americans  counted  the  strangers  with  increasing 
amazement  and  consternation,  and  in  twenty  minutes 
they  found  themselves  in  the  presence  of  a  fleet  of 
forty-two  ships. 

The  excitement  occasioned  in  the  American  squad 
ron  by  the  unannounced  appearance  of  this  formidable 
force  was  intense,  for,  should  the  vessels  prove  to  be 
ships  of  war,  or  should  the  convoy  be  much  superior  to 
the  American  cruisers,  the  chances  for  escape  were 
slight  indeed.  More  than  this,  it  was  well  known  to 
Captain  Jones  and  his  men  that  should  they  fall  into 
the  hands  of  the  English  they  c^uld  expect  little  clem 
ency,  for  the  exasperation  arousWi  in  Great  Britain  by 
the  enormous  amount  of  injury  inflicted  on  British 
commerce  by  American  vessels,  and  especially  by  Cap 
tain  Jones,  together  with  the  brutality  with  which 
the  British  ministry  was  accustomed  to  treat  Ameri 
can  colonists,  left  no  room  for  doubt  as  to  the  fate 
that  awaited  them  in  the  case  of  capture.  That  the 
ministers  were  particularly  anxious  to  vent  their  wrath 
on  Captain  Jones  is  evident  from  the  tenor  of  a  me 
morial  presented  by  Sir  Joseph  Yorke,  British  ambas 
sador  to  Holland,  a  few  weeks  afterward,  to  the  Staats- 
General.  In  this  document  Sir  Joseph  demanded 
"that  those  ships  and  their  crews  might  be  stopped 
and  delivered  up  which  the  pirate  Jones,  a  rebel  sub 
ject  and  criminal  of  the  state,  had  taken."  Well  might 
Mr.  Burke  exclaim  against  carrying  on  this  war  "in  a 
manner  contrary  to  the  usage  of  civilized  nations."  On 


116      THE  BONHOMME  RICHARD  AND  THE  SERAPIS.     1779. 

the  other  hand,  should  these  vessels  prove  to  be  mer 
chantmen  under  a  weak  escort,  the  Americans  had  a 
rare  opportunity  for  dealing  a  crushing  blow  at  the 
enemy's  commerce. 

Thus  hesitating  between  fear  and  exultation,  the 
little  squadron'  anxiously  allowed  the  fleet  to  draw 
near,  ready  at  a  moment's  notice  to  spread  all  sail  for 
escape  or  to  pounce  upon  the  prey.  The  pilot  boat, 
which  had  been  manned  by  sixteen  men  under  Second- 
Lieutenant  Henry  Lunt,  and  was  at  this  time  in  chase  of 
the  brigantine,  was  recalled,  but  she  had  already  gone 
so  far  that  Captain  Jones  was  under  the  necessity  of 
abandoning  her.1  This  left  the  Bonhomme  Richard 
with  only  one  lieutenant,  Richard  Dale  (the  third 
lieutenant,  Cutting  Lunt,  having  been  lost  on  the  23d 
of  the  preceding  month),  or  three  hundred  and  four 
men  in  all. 

After  a  long  and  careful  search  through  the  glass, 
Captain  Jones  was  satisfied  that  there  were  only  two 
vessels  of  war  in  the  fleet,  upon  which  he  gave  the 
signal  for  a  general  chase.  Just  then  a  boat,  which 
had  been  observed  hurriedly  pulling  from  the  shore 
toward  the  hostile  fleet,  was  seen  to  run  alongside  of 
the  larger  English  frigate,  and  a  man  clambered  up  her 
side  by  means  of  a  rope  ladder  and  gained  the  deck. 
This  was  the  bailiff  of  Scarborough,  giving  notice  to 
the  British  commander  of  the  presence  of  Paul  Jones. 
Soon  afterward  three  little  black  balls  were  seen  as 
cending  the  English  frigate's  mast,  which  on  reaching 
the  masthead  fluttered  out  into  signal  flags,  and  at 
the  same  time  a  gun  was  fired  to  windward.  This  was 
the  signal  of  an  enemy,  and  the  merchantmen  hastily 
put  about  and  in  great  confusion  scattered  in  all  direc 
tions,  many  of  them  firing  alarm  guns  and  seeking 
refuge  under  the  guns  of  Scarborough  Castle,  while  the 
frigate  with  her  consort  bore  down  to  cover  the  flight. 

1  Affidavit  of  Second-Lieutenant  Lunt. 


1779.  INSUBORDINATION.  117 

At  this  critical  moment  the  insubordination  which 
had  been  so  noticeable  throughout  the  cruise,  especially 
on  the  part  of  Captain  Landais,  became  alarming,  for 
not  only  did  that  officer  willfully  ignore  the  signal  to 
fall  astern  of  the  Bonhomme  Richard,  but  Captain 
Cottineau  also  seemed  to  be  affected  by  the  example 
of  his  brother  officer.  Instead  of  obeying  the  signal, 
Captain  Landais  drew  ahead  to  speak  to  the  Pallas, 
and,  as  was  afterward  proved,  said,  "If  it  is  a  ship  of 
more  than  fifty  guns,  we  have  nothing  to  do  but  to  run 
away."1  As  Captain  Jones  was  thus  delayed  by  the 
dastardly  conduct  of  his  subordinates,  it  was  nearly 
dark  before  he  could  approach  the  enemy.  By  this 
time,  however,  the  Pallas  had  changed  her  demeanor, 
and  gallantly  advanced  to  engage  the  enemy's  second 
ship,  while  the  Bonhomme  Richard  singled  out  the 
frigate.  But  the  Alliance  held  aloof  in  mutinous  in 
difference  to  the  impending  battle.  As  soon  as  the 
British  commander  found  that  his  convoy  was  out  of 
danger  he  tacked  inshore ;  and  Captain  Jones,  fear 
ing  that  the  Englishman  might  seek  refuge  under  the 
guns  of  the  castle,  changed  his  course  so  as  to  cut  the 
enemy  off  from  the  land.  This  manoeuvre  gave  rise 
to  a  serious  misapprehension  on  the  part  of  the  other 
American  commanders.  They  knew  that  the  Bon 
homme  Ricliard  had  several  hundred  English  prison 
ers  in  her  hold,  and  when  she  suddenly  headed  in 
shore  they  believed  that  the  prisoners,  with  the  aid 
of  the  English  sailors  comprising  a  considerable  por 
tion  of  the  crew,  had  risen  on  their  captors,  killed 
Captain  Jones,  and  were  running  the  ship  into  Scar 
borough.  Acting  under  this  impression,  Captain  Cotti 
neau  tacked  and  laid  the  head  of  the  Pallas  offshore. 

By  6.30  P.  M.  it  was  so  dark  that  Captain  Jones  had 
some  difficulty  in  following  the  movements  of  his  an 
tagonist  even  with  the  aid  of  a  powerful  glass.  The 

1  Affidavit  of  Captain  Cottineau,  of  the  Pallas. 


118      THE  BONHOMME  RICHARD  AND  THE  SERAP1S.     1779. 

fast-falling  night  rendered  the  bold  headland  of  Flam- 
borough  indistinct,  and  the  other  vessels  of  the  squad 
ron  were  quickly  lost  to  view.  The  British  frigate  at 
this  moment  was  heading  westward,  while  the  Bon- 
homme  Richard  was  coming  down  with  the  wind  on 
her  port  quarter.  As  the  Americans  drew  near,  the 
outlines  of  the  enemy's  ship  stood  out  in  dark  relief 
in  the  gathering  gloom,  and  as  the  huge  vessels  edged 
toward  each  other  to  grapple  in  a  deadly  struggle  a 
profound  hush  settled  over  the  scene.  The  fretful 
splashes  of  the  waves  as  the  great  frigates  disdain 
fully  tossed  them  aside,  and  the  subdued  seething  of 
the  foaming  waters  rushing  swiftly  along  their  sides, 
alone  served  to  break  the  quiet  of  the  hour.  When 
the  ships  were  within  pistol  shot  of  each  other  a  voice 
from  the  stranger  hailed,  "What  ship  is  that?"  to 
which  Captain  Jones  replied,  "I  can't  hear  what  you 
say,"  wishing  to  close  before  opening  tire.  Finding 
that  the  hail  was  ineffectual,  the  voice  was  again  heard 
across  the  water:  "What  ship  is  that?  Answer,  or 
I  shall  be  under  the  necessity  of  firing  into  you." 
Again  no  reply  came  from  the  ghostly  ship,  the  hail 
seemingly  having  been  lost  in  the  deep  silence. 

But  now  a  few  orders  were  quietly  passed  along  the 
American  batteries.  Suddenly,  as  if  at  a  preconcerted 
signal,  two  blinding  sheets  of  flame  leaped  from  the 
dark  sides  of  both  the  frigates  into  the  black  night, 
while  the  discharge  of  forty  guns  crashed  into  the 
deathlike  stillness,  and  round  shot,  grape  and  canis 
ter  rushed  to  their  mission  of  destruction  and  death. 
For  an  instant  all  was  again  quiet,  as  each  man  in 
stinctively  looked  around  to  ascertain  which  of  his 
companions  had  fallen  or  how  his  ship  had  fared  by 
this  first  blow  of  the  battle.  Then  began  the  heat  of 
the  action,  the  men  hastening  to  reload  the  guns  while 
the  agonized  groans  of  the  wounded  roused  the  hot 
blood  of  revenge.  At  the  first  broadside  two  of  the  six 
18-pounders  in  the  improvised  battery  of  the  lower  gun 


1779.  DREADFUL  SLAUGHTER. 

deck  of  the  Bonhomme  Richard  burst,  killing  most  of 
the  men  that  worked  them,  and  blowing  up  the  deck 


Diagram  of  the  Battle. 

above.  The  remaining  18-pounders  were  necessarily 
abandoned,  as  after  the  warning  given  by  the  first  two 
the  men  refused  to  handle  the  rest.  By  this  disaster 
the  Bonhomme  Richard  was  not  only  deprived  of  her 
heaviest  battery,  but  also  sustained  a  serious  loss  in 
killed  or  wounded. 

Captain  Jones  now  drew  ahead  and  crossed  the 
enemy's  bow  to  leeward,  while  the  latter  filled  away, 
coming  up  on  his  port  quarter.  The  frigates  then 
verged  nearer  to  each  other  until  they  were  within 
half  pistol  shot.  By  this  time  the  cannonading  had 
become  furious,  enveloping  the  two  vessels  in  a  dense 
volume  of  smoke,  which  was  illuminated  by  continu 
ous  flashes.  Soon  the  musketry  in  the  tops  mingled 
its  sharp  rattling  fire  with  the  roar  of  the  artillery,  and 
the  shrieks  and  yells  of  the  wounded  and  dying  in 
creased  with  the  din  of  battle  until  the  two  ships  com 
ing  together  united  their  tumults  in  one  awful  uproar. 
The  slaughter  in  the  Bonhomme  Richard  had  become 
frightful.  Her  decks  were  literally  flooded  with  blood, 
while  sluggish  crimson  streams  oozed  out  from  her 
scuppers,  and  running  down  her  sides  streaked  the 
black  hull  with  a  ghastly  hue. 


120      THE  BONHOMME  RICHARD  AND  THE  SERAPIS.     1779. 

Thirty  minutes  after  the  battle  opened  the  Bon- 
Jiomme  Richard  had  received  several  18-pound  shot 
under  the  water  line,  which  caused  her  to  leak  serious 
ly.  By  the  loss  of  his  battery  of  18-pounders  Captain 
Jones  was  compelled  to  rely  entirely  upon  his  12- 
pounders.  These  guns  were  manned  and  fired  chiefly 
by  American  and  French  seamen,  who  worked  them 
with  desperate  energy.  In  three  quarters  of  an  hour, 
however,  this  battery  of  fourteen  guns  was  completely 
disabled  or  silenced,  while  seven  of  the  quarter-deck 
and  forecastle  guns  had  been  dismounted.  This  left 
the  frigate  with  only  two  9-pounders  on  the  quarter 
deck.  With  great  difficulty  a  9-pounder  was  shifted 
over  from  the  starboard  side,  thus  giving  her  in  all 
three  9-pounders.  These  guns  were  loaded  under  the 
personal  supervision  of  Captain  Jones,  and  swept  the 
enemy's  deck  with  great  effect.  They  were  then  dou 
ble-shotted  with  round  shot  and  aimed  at  the  main 
mast. 

After  the  battle  had  lasted  an  hour  the  moon  rose. 
The  enemy  now  forged  ahead  with  the  intention  of  run 
ning  across  the  Bonhomme  Richard' ' s  course  to  rake  ; 
but,  seeing  that  he  had  miscalculated  his  distance,  he, 
after  giving  a  yaw,  put  his  helm  a-lee,  which  brought 
the  frigates  in  line  ahead.  The  Bonhomme  Richard, 
having  greater  momentum,  overtook  the  enemy  and 
ran  her  bowsprit  over  his  stern.  There  was  now  a 
lull  in  the  uproar,  as  each  side  expected  the  other  to 
board,  and  after  a  moment's  uncertainty  the  British 
commander  hailed  to  know  if  the  American  ship  had 
struck.  Captain  Jones  replied,  "I  have  not  yet  be 
gun  to  fight !  "  He  then  backed  his  topsails,  and  the 
enemy  filling  away  the  frigates  separated. 

The  Englishman  then  shivered  his  after-sails,  put 
his  helm  hard  down,  and  laying  all  aback  forward  wore 
short  around  on  his  heel,  with  the  intention  of  rak 
ing,  but  owing  to  the  smoke  and  confusion  he  ran  his 
jib  boom  afoul  of  the  BonJiomme  Richard's  starboard 


1779.  THE  FRIGATES  FOUL.  121 

mizzen  shrouds.  Seeing  that  his  only  chance  was  at 
close  quarters,  Captain  Jones  with  his  own  hands 
lashed  the  spar  to  his  rigging.  The  ships  hung  in  this 
position  for  a  moment,  but  the  wind  gradually  swung 
them  around  side  by  side,  and  brought  a  leverage  on 
the  enemy's  bowsprit,  which  soon  snapped  under  the 
strain.  At  the  same  moment  his  spare  anchor  hooked 
on  the  Bonlwmme  Richards  quarter  and  held  the 
vessels  together.  The  Americans  then  secured  the 
ships  by  passing  a  hawser  over  the  stump  of  the  ene 
my's  bowsprit  and  around  the  Bonhomme  Richard'1  s 
mizzenmast.  In  this  position,  side  by  side,  bow  and 
stern,  the  two  frigates  fought  for  the  remainder  of  the 
action.  With  the  view  of  separating  them  the  English 
commander  dropped  his  anchor,  hoping  that  the  wind 
would  carry  the  American  clear  of  him,  but  the  Bon 
homme  Richard  hung  fast,  and  thenceforth  they  re 
mained  anchored. 

While  the  vessels  were  thus  swinging  alongside  the 
British  closed  their  lower  ports  on  the  engaged  side, 
fearing  that  the  Americans  might  board  through  them ; 
but  now,  as  the  frigates  lay  closely  pressed  against 
each  other,  these  ports,  which  opened  outwardly,  could 
not  be  raised.  This  compelled  the  enemy  either  to 
abandon  their  battery  of  18-pounders  or  fire  through 
their  own  ports  to  reach  the  American  ship.  They 
resorted  to  the  latter  alternative. 

The  battle  now  recommenced  with  great  fury.  So 
close  were  the  ships  that  the  gunners  in  loading  were 
obliged  to  send  their  rammers  into  the  ports  of  the 
opposite  vessel,  and  the  Bonhomme  Richard  was  soon 
set  on  fire  in  several  places  with  burning  wads.  To 
meet  this  new  enemy  Captain  Jones  detailed  a  por 
tion  of  his  crew,  and  the  flames  were  extinguished 
before  they  made  serious  headway.  Between  nine  and 
ten  o'clock  the  enemy  attempted  to  board,  but,  finding 
the  Bonhomme  Richard's  men  drawn  up  in  readiness 

to  receive  them,  they  abandoned  the  attempt. 
11 


122      THE  BONHOMME   RICHARD  AND  THE  SERAPIS.     1779. 

As  we  have  already  seen,  the  American  lower  bat 
tery  of  18-pounders  at  the  first  discharge  had  proved 
worse  than  useless,  so  that  all  this  time  the  English 
gunners,  in  their  corresponding  battery  of  18-pounders, 
were  unmolested,  and  were  pouring  in  broadside  after 
broadside  with  impunity.  As  a  consequence,  the  low 
er  portion  of  the  Bonhomme  Richard's  hull  was  in  a 
terrible  condition.  The  six  ports  had  been  battered 
into  one  awful  chasm,  through  which  the  waves  washed 
freely,  while  shot  frequently  passed  through  the  ship 
and  fell  into  the  sea  on  the  other  side  without  touch 
ing  her.  To  offset  this  appalling  condition  the  Amer 
icans  had  put  all  their  forces  on  the  upper  decks  and 
in  the  rigging.  The  fire  from  their  tops  had  driven 
every  officer  and  seaman  out  of  sight,  while  the  9- 
pounders  on  the  quarter-deck  and  one  or  two  12-pound- 
ers,  which  had  been  brought  into  play  again,  gradually 
silenced  the  upper  batteries  in  the  British  frigate. 

Seeing  that  the  enemy's  upper  decks  were  deserted, 
an  American  seaman  climbed  out  on  the  Bonhomme 
Richard's  main  yard  with  a  bucket  filled  with  com 
bustibles  and  hand  grenades,  which  he  threw  on  the 
decks  of  the  English  frigate  whenever  he  saw  two  or 
three  men  collected.  As  the  enemy  retreated  below 
decks  this  seaman  began  tossing  his  grenades  into  the 
hatches,  where  they  occasioned  considerable  injury. 
Finally,  reaching  far  out  on  the  yard  and  taking  delib 
erate  aim,  he  managed  to  drop  a  grenade  through  the 
main  hatchway  and  into  the  gun  room  below.  Here 
the  enemy's  powder  boys  had  been  depositing  12- 
pound  cartridges,  and  as  the  guns  of  this  battery  had 
been  gradually  silenced,  the  supply  of  ammunition 
was  greater  than  the  demand.  In  the  confusion  of  the 
battle  this  supply  was  not  checked,  so  that  in  a  short 
time  a  quantity  of  ammunition  was  hurriedly  piled 
along  the  deck  until  a  great  mass  had  accumulated. 
The  blazing  grenade  fell  on  this  heap,  and  the  explo 
sion  was  terrific.  The  fire,  "  running  from  cartridge 


1779.       THE  ALLIANCE  FIRES  INTO   THE   FLAGSHIP.        123 

to  cartridge  all  the  way  aft,  blew  up  the  whole  of  the 
people  and  officers  that  were  quartered  abaft  the  main 
mast."  1  "  More  than  twenty  of  the  enemy  were  blown 
to  pieces,  and  many  stood  with  only  the  collars  of  their 
shirts  upon  their  bodies."2  The  British  commander,  a 
week  after  the  action,  reported  that  thirty-eight  were 
killed  or  wounded  by  this  explosion. 

At  this  juncture  the  Alliance  hove  in  sight.  Cap 
tain  Jones  then  believed  that  the  battle  was  decided, 
but  to  the  consternation  of  all  she  fired  a  full  broad 
side  into  the  Bonhomme  Richard's  stern.  Captain 
Jones  in  his  official  report  says:  "I  now  thought 
that  the  battle  was  about  ended.  But  to  my  utter 
astonishment  he,  Pierre  Landais,  discharged  a  full 
broadside  into  the  stern  of  the  Bonhomme  Richard. 
We  called  to  him  for  God's  sake  to  forbear,  yet  he 
passed  along  the  off  side  of  the  ship — which  was  the 
port  side,  the  enemy  being  on  the  starboard  side — and 
continued  firing.  There  was  no  possibility  of  his  mis 
taking  the  enemy's  ship  for  the  BonTiomme  Richard, 
there  being  the  most  essential  difference  in  their  ap 
pearance  and  construction.  Besides,  there  was  a  full 
moonlight,  and  the  sides  of  the  Bonhomme  Richard 
were  all  black,  and  the  sides  of  the  enemy's  ship  were 
yellow.  Yet,  for  the  greater  security,  I  showed  the 
signals  for  our  reconnoissance  by  putting  out  three 
lanterns,  one  at  the  bow,  one  at  the  stern  and  one  in 
the  middle,  in  a  horizontal  line.  Every  tongue  cried 
out  that  he  was  firing  into  the  wrong  ship,  but  nothing 
availed.  He  passed  round  firing  into  the  Bonhomme 
Richard,  head,  stern  and  broadside,  and  by  one  of 
his  volleys  killed  several  of  my  best  men  and  mortally 
wounded  a  good  officer  of  the  forecastle.  My  situation 
was  truly  deplorable.  The  Bonhomme  Richard  re 
ceived  several  shot  under  the  water  [line]  from  the 

1  Official  report  of  the  British  commander. 

2  Journal  of  Lieutenant  Dale. 


THE  BONHOMME   RICHARD  AND  THE  SERAPIS.     1770. 

Alliance.  The  leaks  gained  on  the  pumps,  and  the 
fire  increased  much  in  both  ships."  A  number  of  men 
had  collected  on  the  Bonhomme  Richard? s  forecastle, 
where  the  enemy's  shot  could  not  reach  them,  but  the 
Alliance,  in  coming  around  the  flagship's  bow,  poured 
•  in  a  destructive  fire  of  grape,  which  killed  or  wounded 
ten  or  twelve  of  these  men,  among  the  killed  being 
Midshipman  Caswell,  who  affirmed  with  his  dying 
breath  that  he  had  been  slain  by  a  shot  from  the 
American  frigate.  There  could  be  no  doubt  that  the 
Alliance  had  been  captured  by  the  enemy,  and  now, 
with  a  British  crew  aboard,  was  attacking  the  Bon- 
Tiomme  Richard.  The  cry,  "The  Alliance  has  been 
captured  by  the  British  and  is  now  attacking  us ! " 1 
was  heard  all  over  the  ship.  But  as  the  Alliance  soon 
ceased  her  fire  and  stood  away  from  the  frigates,  Cap 
tain  Jones  did  not  strike. 

But  the  mischief  had  been  done.  Already  there 
were  several  feet  of  water  in  the  hold,  which  the  leak 
age  caused  by  the  broadside  from  the  Alliance  so 
increased  that  now  the  water  rapidly  gained  on  the 
pumps.  Besides  this  the  fire,  which  for  some  time 
had  been  raging  below,  now  approached  within  a  few 
feet  of  the  magazine.  This  state  of  affairs  so  alarmed 
the  master-at-arms  that  he  cried  out,  "The  ship  is 
sinking ! "  and  took  it  upon  himself  to  liberate  between 
one  and  two  hundred  prisoners  who  were  confined 
below  decks,  and  the  carpenter  at  the  same  time  re 
ported  six  feet  of  water  in  the  hold.  The  panic  that 
ensued  was  appalling.  The  men  rushed  wildly  about 
in  confusion,  their  blind  haste  frustrating  their  own 
efforts  to  lower  the  boats ;  the  liberated  prisoners  ran 
about  the  ship  with  but  little  thought,  fortunately, 
except  for  their  own  safety ;  the  wounded  piteously 
entreated  to  be  removed  from  the  sinking  ship,  but 
were  ruthlessly  trampled  under  foot  by  the  frantic, 

1  Affidavit  of  Midshipman  John  Mayrant,  of  the  Bonhomme  Richard. 


1779.        PANIC  AMONG  THE   PRISONERS  AND  CREW.         125 

struggling  mass  of  men  ;  orders  were  shouted  in  many 
languages,  only  to  be  lost  in  the  tumult.  Several  of 
the  warrant  officers,  after  looking  in  vain  for  Captain 
Jones  and  Lieutenant  Dale,  the  latter  being  below  at 
the  moment  examining  the  pumps,  decided  that  it  was 
their  duty  to  surrender  the  ship,  and  went  to  the  quar 
ter-deck  to  haul  down  the  colors.  The  flag,  however, 
had  been  shot  away,  upon  which  the  gunner  ran  to  the 
taffrail  and  called  out  to  the  English  ship  for  quarter. 
Hearing  this,  the  British  commander  actually  mustered 
a  boarding  party  to  take  possession  of  the  Bonhomme 
Richard,  but  the  men,  being  exposed  to  the  musketry 
from  the  American  tops,  were  soon  driven  below  again. 

Among  the  English  prisoners  was  the  master  of  a 
letter  of  marque,  captured  a  few  days  before  oif  the 
coast  of  Scotland.  Taking  advantage  of  the  stampede, 
he  slipped  through  one  of  the  ports  and  stepped  aboard 
the  enemy's  ship,  where  he  informed  her  commander 
of  the  confusion  in  the  American  frigate.  This  gave 
new  life  to  the  Englishmen,  and  giving  three  cheers 
they  loaded  their  guns  with  renewed  energy.  The 
condition  of  the  BonTiomme  Richard  was  hopeless 
indeed.  She  had  taken  in  so  much  water  as  to  be 
perceptibly  settling,  a  fire  was  raging  near  her  maga 
zine  which  the  efforts  of  her  crew  had  not  been  able 
to  check,  nearly  all  her  guns  were  disabled,  several 
hundred  prisoners  were  skulking  about  the  ship  ready 
at  the  first  opportunity  to  strike  from  behind,  and  the 
enemy  was  thoroughly  cognizant  of  these  overwhelm 
ing  disasters. 

The  surviving  officers  now  advised  Captain  Jones  to 
surrender,  and  any  ordinary  commander  would  have 
been  justified  in  doing  so.  But  Jones  was  not  an 
ordinary  commander.  Defiantly  returning  the  Eng 
lishman's  inquiry  if  the  Americans  had  surrendered 
with  an  emphatic  negative,  this  strange  man  converted 
his  disheartening  calamities  into  the  very  means  of 
success.  Circulating  the  report  that  the  English  frig- 


126      THE   BONHOMME  RICHARD  AND  THE  SERAPIS.     1779. 

ate  was  on  the  point  of  sinking,  Captain  Jones  con 
vinced  his  prisoners  that  their  lives,  as  well  as  those 
aboard  the  British  ship,  depended  on  the  BonJiomme 
Richard? s  floating.  Terrified  at  this,  the  Englishmen 
eagerly  manned  the  pumps  and  fought  the  flames  with 
frantic  energy..  This  clever  artifice  had  the  double 
advantage  of  relieving  the  American  crew  from  the 
arduous  task  of  fighting  the  water  and  fire  and  also  of 
safely  disposing  of  the  many  prisoners.  Captain  Jones 
then  ordered  his  men  to  their  guns,  threatening  to  kill 
the  first  man  that  hesitated  to  obey,  and  the  sight  of  a 
cocked  pistol  and  the  expression  on  his  face  forced 
them  to  prompt  obedience. 

The  stratagem  succeeded  admirably.  Under  the 
supervision  of  Lieutenant  Dale  the  prisoners  fought 
the  flames  and  worked  the  pumps  with  desperate 
eagerness,  stimulated  every  now  and  then  by  a  re 
mark  from  that  officer  to  the  effect  that  the  enemy's 
ship  was  fast  settling,  until,  utterly  exhausted,  they 
were  relieved  by  other  gangs  of  prisoners.  Thus  by 
the  efforts  of  these  Englishmen  the  Bonhomme  Rich 
ard  was  kept  afloat,  for  without  their  aid  her  fear 
fully  weakened  crew  could  not  have  mustered  suf 
ficient  strength  to  check  the  inrushing  water. 

Finding  that  the  cannonading  from  the  American 
frigate  rather  increased  than  diminished,  the  enemy 
began  to  doubt  if  the  British  privateersman  had  in 
formed  them  aright.  Their  own  ship  was  on  fire  in 
several  places,  and  the  crew  had  suffered  great  losses. 
One  by  one  their  guns  had  become  silent,  while  a  few 
on  the  American  frigate  were  still  worked  with  effect. 
Feeling  that  further  resistance  was  hopeless,  the  Brit 
ish  commander  at  10.30  p.  M.  with  his  own  hands 
hauled  down  his  flag.  A  moment  later  his  mainmast 
tottered  and  went  crashing  over  the  side,  bringing 
down  with  it  the  mizzen  topmast.  Captain  Jones  then 
ceased  firing,  and  Lieutenant  Dale  was  ordered  to  take 
possession.  Jumping  on  the  gunwale  and  seizing  the 


1779.  THE  BONHOMME  RICHARD  A   WRECK.  127 

loose  main  brace,  that  officer  swung  himself  on  the 
enemy's  deck.  Standing  on  the  lee  side  of  the  quarter 
deck,  he  found  the  British  commander,  Captain  Pear 
son,  of  the  44-gun  frigate  Serapis.  Lieutenant  Dale 
was  promptly  followed  on  board  the  British  frigate  by 
Midshipman  Mayrant  and  a  party  of  boarders.  Mr. 
Mayrant  was  wounded  in  the  thigh  by  a  boarding  pike 
in  the  hands  of  a  seaman  in  the  waist  who  was  unaware 
of  the  surrender. 

But  the  labors  of  the  exhausted  crews  were  not 
over  yet,  for  the  Bonhomme  Richard  was  sinking  and 
also  in  momentary  danger  of  blowing  up,  and  it  was 
only  by  the  united  exertions  of  both  crews  that  she 
was  kept  afloat  during  the  night,  while  the  wounded 
and  prisoners  were  hurried  aboard  the  Serapis.  The 
Bonhomme  Richard's  hull  was  so  shattered  that,  had 
it  not  been  for  the  support  of  a  few  futtocks  which  the 
enemy's  shot  had  missed,  her  poop,  quarter-deck  and 
main  deck  would  have  fallen  into  the  gun  room,  so  that 
the  Americans  in  the  after  part  of  the  ship  actually 
had  been  fighting  on  a  floating  platform  upheld  by 
only  a  few  stanchions,  and  these  were  not  carried  away 
simply  because  they  were  so  close  to  the  enemy  that 
no  gun  could  reach  them.  Captain  Jones  said  her 
"rudder  was  cut  entirely  off  the  stern  frame,  and  the 
transoms  were  almost  cut  away;  the  timbers  by  the 
lower  deck  especially,  from  the  mainmast  to  the  stern, 
being  greatly  decayed  with  age,  were  mangled  beyond 
my  power  of  description ;  and  a  person  mast  have  been 
an  eyewitness  to  form  a  just  idea  of  the  tremendous 
scene  of  carnage,  wreck  and  ruin  that  everywhere  ap 
peared.  Humanity  can  not  but  recoil  from  the  pros 
pect  of  such  finished  horror,  and  lament  that  war 
should  produce  such  fatal  consequences."  Immedi 
ately  on  the  surrender  of  the  Serapis,  Captain  Jones 
ordered  the  lashings  to  be  cut  and  the  two  ships  sepa 
rated.  Now  that  the  Bonhomme  Richard  stood  alone 
in  the  light  of  the  moon,  the  chasms  in  her  sides  were 


128      THE  BONHOMME  RICHARD  AND  THE  SERAPIS.     1779. 

brought  out  more  clearly.  She  presented  such  a  hor 
rible  spectacle  that  many  of  her  men,  fearing  that  she 
would  sink,  threw  themselves  into  the  water  and  swam 
to  the  nearest  ships,  while  ten  Englishmen,  who  formed 
a  part  of  her  crew,  seized  a  boat  from  the  Serapis  and 
escaped  to  the  shore.  About  ten  o'clock  on  the  morn 
ing  of  the  25th  the  Bonhomme  Richard  rapidly  settled, 
gave  a  heavy  roll,  and  plunged  out  of  sight,  bow  fore 
most,  to  the  bottom  of  the  German  Ocean.  The  other 
ships  of  the  squadron  with  the  prizes,  after  repairing 
damages,  sailed  for  Texel,  where  they  arrived  on  the 
3d  of  October.1 

This  action  of  three  hours  and  a  half  duration — 7  to 
10.30  P.  M. — is  unsurpassed  in  naval  history  for  the  en 
durance  displayed  on  both  sides.  The  ships  grappled 
from  the  first  and  immediately  began  a  desperate  strug 
gle,  which  ceased  only  when  their  common  enemies, 
tire  and  water,  threatened  to  engulf  them  both.  The 
Bonhomme  Richard,  as  we  have  seen,  was  but  a  mer 
chant  vessel  mounted  with  guns.  Her  armament  con 
sisted  of  six  18-pounders  in  the  improvised  battery  on 
the  lower  gun  deck,  twenty-eight  12-pounders  on  her 
main  deck,  and  eight  9-pounders  on  the  quarter-deck 
and  forecastle,  making  in  all  forty-two  guns,  throwing 
five  hundred  and  sixteen  French  pounds  of  metal, 
which  are  equal  to  five  hundred  and  fifty-seven  Eng 
lish  pounds.  On  the  first  discharge  two  of  the  six  18- 
pounders  burst,  and  the  others  were  abandoned  as 
being  too  dangerous.  Thus  the  Bonlwmme  Richard 
was  deprived  of  her  heaviest  battery  from  the  outset. 
This  left  her  with  only  12-  and  9-pounders;  in  all 
thirty-six  guns,  throwing  a  total  weight  of  four  hun- 

1  The  flag  carried  by  the  Bonhomme  Richard  in  this  cruise  "  was  made 
of  English  bunting,  and  was  about  eight  and  one  half  yards  long  and 
one  yard  five  inches  wide.  It  was  sewed  with  flax  thread,  and  contained 
twelve  white  stars  in  a  blue  union  and  thirteen  stripes,  alternately  red  and 
white.  The  stars  were  arranged  in  four  horizontal  lines,  three  stars  in 
each."— Preble's  History  of  the  United  States  Flag,  p.  283. 


1779.  THE   BONHOMME  RICHARD  A   WRECK.  129 

dred  and  forty-one  English  pounds.  But  as  she  actu 
ally  carried  these  18-pounders,  they  will  be  counted  in 
her  armament. 

The  Serapis  was  a  new  frigate  only  a  few  months  out. 
English  historians  rate  her  as  a  44-gun  ship,1  but  have 
neglected  to  give  a  detailed  description  of  her  arma 
ment.  Her  captors  and  all  American  authorities  agree 
that  she  carried  fifty  guns,  which  is  more  than  proba 
ble,  since  vessels  generally  carried  more  guns  than  their 
nominal  rate.  Her  armament  consisted  of  twenty  18- 
pounders  on  the  lower  gun  deck,  twenty  9-pounders  on 
the  main  deck,  and  ten  6-pounders  on  the  quarter-deck 
and  forecastle— in  all  fifty  guns,  throwing  six  hundred 
pounds  of  metal.  Captain  Jones,  besides  being  encum 
bered  with  several  hundred  prisoners,  found  that  his 
crew  had  been  reduced  by  the  loss  of  his  two  barges, 
the  pilot  boat  and  the  necessity  of  manning  prizes,  to 
three  hundred  and  four,  all  told.  Of  this  number 
forty-nine  were  killed  and  sixty-seven  wounded,2 
among  the  latter  being  Lieutenant  Richard  Dale,  who 
was  severely  wounded  by  a  splinter,  but  so  earnestly 
engaged  in  the  battle  that  he  did  not  discover  the  fact 
until  after  the  surrender,  when  he  attempted  to  rise 
from  his  seat  on  the  binnacle  and  fell  to  the  deck.  The 
Scrap  is  is  admitted  to  have  carried  a  crew  of  three 
hundred  and  twenty,  all  told.3  Of  this  number  Cap 
tain  Pearson  reported  forty -nine  killed  and  sixty-eight 

wounded.4 

Comparative  force  and  loss. 

Guns.      Lbs.     Crew.    K'd.       W'd.      Total. 

Bonhomme  Richard :   42      557     304     49        67       116  )     Time 
Serapis:  50      600      320     49        68       I17f3h.30ni. 

The  Countess  of  Scarborough  was  gallantly  de 
fended  by  Captain  Piercy,  and  did  not  strike  until 

1  Allen's  Battles  of  the  British  Navy,  vol.  i,  p.  251. 

2  Official  report  of  Captain  Jones. 

3  Allen's  Battles  of  the  British  Navy,  vol.  i,  p.  253. 

4  Official  report  of  Captain  Pearson. 


130     THE  BONHOMME  RICHARD  AND  THE  SERAPIS.     1779. 

after  nearly  two  hours  of  resistance,  during  which, 
she  had  "all  her  braces,  the  greater  part  of  her  run 
ning  rigging,  main  and  mizzen  topsails  and  sheets 
shot  away  and  seven  guns  dismounted."1  She  car 
ried  twenty- two  6-pounders  and  one  hundred  and 
fifty  men,  of  whom  four  were  killed  and  twenty 
were  wounded.2  Captain  Cottineau  and  the  French 
men  under  his  command  fought  with  commendable 
bravery. 

The  conduct  of  Captain  Landais  throughout  the 
cruise,  and  especially  during  this  action,  was  so  ex 
traordinary  as  to  require  indisputable  proofs,  which 
we  have  in  the  following  testimony  : 

"  We,  the  officers,  etc.,  of  the  American  squadron 
now  at  Texel,  this  30th  day  of  October,  1779,  do  attest 
and  declare  upon  our  words  of  honor  as  gentlemen  that 
what  [articles]  we  subscribe  respecting  the  conduct  of 
Peter  Landais,  captain  of  the  frigate  Alliance,  are  re 
ally  and  truly  matters  of  fact.  In  witness  thereof  we 
hereunto  sign  our  names  and  qualities,  and  will  at  any 
time  hereafter  be  ready  to  prove  the  same  upon  oath  if 
required."  Then  follow  twenty-five  separate  instances 
in  which  Captain  Landais  is  shown  to  have  been  guilty 
of  culpable  insubordination.  Some  of  the  more  promi 
nent,  which  bear  directly  on  what  has  been  narrated 
in  reference  to  the  engagement  of  the  23d  of  Sep 
tember,  are  these:  "No.  9.  On  the  morning  of  the 
23d  of  September,  when  the  Bonlwmme  Richard, 
after  being  off  the  Spurn,  came  in  sight  of  the  Alli 
ance  and  the  Pallas,  off  Flamborough  Head,  Captain 
Landais  distinctly  told  Captain  Cottineau  (of  the  Pal 
las)  that  if  it  [the  Serapis]  was,  as  it  appeared,  a 
50-gun  ship,  they  must  run  away."  Many  officers  of 
the  Pallas  corroborate  this  statement,  and  Captain 
Cottineau  himself  says  :  "With  respect  to  Article  9, 
I  recollect  that  he  [Landais]  said,  'If  it  is  a  ship  of 

1  Official  report  of  Captain  Piercy.  2  Ibid. 


1779.  THE   TREACHERY  OF  LANDAIS. 

more  than  fifty  guns,  we  have  nothing  to  do  but  to 
run  away.'r 

In  reference  to  Captain  Landais'  firing  into  the 
Bonhomme  Richard,  Article  15  says:  "At  last  Cap 
tain  Landais  made  sail  under  Ms  topsails  to  work  up 
to  windward,  but  made  tacks  before  he  (being  within 
range  of  grapeshot,  and,  at  the  longest,  three  quar 
ters  of  an  hour,  struck)  fired  a  second  broadside  into 
the  Bonhomme  Richards  larboard  [port]  quarter,  the 
latter  part  whereof  was  fired  when  the  Alliance  was 
not  more  than  three  points  abaft  the  Bonhomme  Rich 
ard?  s  beam ;  although  many  tongues  had  cried  from 
the  Bonhomme  Richard  that  Captain  Landais  was 
firing  into  the  wrong  ship,  and  prayed  him  to  lay  the 
enemy  alongside.  Three  large  signal  lanterns  with 
proper  signal  wax  candles  in  them,  and  well  lighted, 
had  also,  previously  to  his  firing,  been  hung  over  the 
bow,  quarter  and  waist  of  the  Bonhomme  Richard  in  a 
horizontal  line,  which  was  the  signal  of  reconnoissance ; 
and  the  ships,  the  one  having  a  high  poop  and  being  all 
black,  the  other  having  a  low  stern  with  yellow  sides, 
were  easily  distinguishable,  it  being  full  moon."  This 
article  is  subscribed  to  by  Lieutenant  Dale,  Lieutenant- 
Colonel  Weibert,  Lieutenant-Colonel  Stack  (French), 
Lieutenant-Colonel  Macarty  (French),  Samuel  Stacey 
the  sailing  master,  and  many  others,  all  of  the  Bon 
homme  Richard.  The  charge  is  further  substantiated 
by  the  officers  of  the  Alliance:  "  Article  20.  Several 
people  on  board  the  Alliance  told  Captain  Landais  at 
different  times  that  he  fired  upon  the  wrong  ship  ; 
others  refused  to  fire."  This  article  is  signed  by  the 
first  and  second  lieutenants,  master  and  captain  of 
the  marines,  all  officers  in  the  Alliance  at  the  time. 
But  there  was  a  third  witness  of  Captain  Landais' 
treachery  whom  we  have  probably  forgotten.  When 
the  English  fleet  rounded  Flamborough  Head,  Second- 
Lieutenant  Henry  Lunt,  of  the  Bonhomme  Richard ', 
with  fifteen  men,  was  in  the  pilot  boat  chasing  the 


132      THE  BONHOMME  RICHARD  AND   THE  SERAPIS.    1779. 

brigantine,  and  lie  was  unable  to  rejoin  his  ship  until 
after  the  action.  In  the  meantime  he  drew  near  the 
combatants,  and  saw  a  ship  (afterward  known  to  have 
been  the  Alliance)  fire  into  the  port  side  of  the  Bon 
homme  Richard,  the  Serapis  being  on  her  starboard 
side. 

Thus  we  have  the  evidence  of  all  the  officers  of  the 
Eonhomme  Richard,  all  of  the  Alliance,  that  of  Sec 
ond-Lieutenant  Henry  Lunt  in  the  pilot  boat,  and  the 
official  report  of  Captain  Jones,  besides  the  affidavits 
of  many  eyewitnesses.  From  English  reports  we  have 
still  further  proof:  "  Captain  Pearson  and  his  first 
lieutenant  were  instantly  hurried  on  board  the  enemy's 
ship  [the  Bonhomme  Richard\  which  was  found  to 
be  in  the  most  shattered  condition  ;  her  stern  and 
quarters  were  entirely  beaten  in."1  On  reviewing  the 
manoeuvres  of  the  two  frigates  it  will  be  seen  that  at 
no  time  could  the  Serapis  possibly  have  fired  into  the 
BonTiomme  Richard's  stern,  yet  Allen  says  that  her 
stern  was  "entirely  beaten  in,"  clearly  showing  that 
some  ship  other  than  the  Berapis  must  have  caused 
the  damage. 

English  writers  have  endeavored  to  lead  the  public 
into  the  belief  that  the  Bonhomme  Richard  and  the 
Alliance  united  in  attacking  the  Serapis,  but  this 
assumption  has  no  foundation.  Captain  Pearson 
merely  declares  that  the  Serapis  received  several  shot 
from  the  Alliance,  and  this  undoubtedly  is  correct,  as 
the  Alliance  ran  across  the  Bonhomme  Richard's  bow 
and  raked ;  and  as  the  Serapis  was  lashed  alongside 
it  would  have  been  strange  had  not  some  of  the  shot 
struck  the  latter.  But  Captain  Pearson  in  his  official 
report  in  no  way  intimates  that  the  Alliance  ranged  up 
on  his  off  side,  while  article  No.  18  shows  that  she 
did  not:  "  Cap  tain  Landais  never  passed  on  the  off 
side  of  the  Serapis"  This  is  subscribed  to  by  the 

1  Allen's  Battles  of  the  British  Navy,  vol.  i,  p.  253. 


1779.  THE  TREACHERY  OF  LANDAIS.  133 

first  and  second  lieutenants  and  sailing  master  of  the 
Alliance. 

Neither  can  the  presence  of  the  Alliance  be  said  to 
have  exerted  an  influence  on  the  battle  any  more 
against  Captain  Pearson  than  against  Captain  Jones, 
for  the  Americans,  after  making  all  the  signals  of 
recognition  in  vain,  and  repeatedly  calling  out  that  the 
Alliance  was  firing  into  the  wrong  ship,  fully  believed 
that  she  had  been  captured  by  her  English  prisoners,  or 
by  some  English  ship  that  had  appeared  on  the  scene 
of  action  after  the  battle  began,  and  was  now  attacking 
them.  This  will  be  seen  in  the  following:  "I,  late  a 
midshipman  on  board  of  the  Bonhomme  Richard,  and 
aid-de-camp  to  the  Honorable  John  Paul  Jones  in  the 
action  of  the  23d  of  September,  off  Flamborough  Head, 
do  certify  that  an  hour  after  the  commencement  of  it  I 
was  on  the  main  deck,  where  there  was  a  brisk  firing 
kept  up  until  a  ship  raked  us,  when  I  saw  two  men 
drop  dead  and  several  running  from  their  quarters, 
crying  out,  '  The  Alliance  is  manned  with  Englishmen 
and  firing  upon  us.' " l 

Captain  Landais'  motive  for  thus  firing  on  his 
senior  officer  is  seen  in  the  following  article:  "No. 
23.  Captain  Landais  has  acknowledged  since  the  ac 
tion  that  he  would  have  thought  it  no  harm  if  the 
Bonhomme  Richard  had  struck,  for  it  would  have 
given  him  an  opportunity  to  retake  her  and  to  take 
the  Serapis"  This  article  is  subscribed  to  by  Lieu 
tenant-Colonel  Weibert,  Lieutenant  -  Colonel  Stack 
(French),  and  Lieutenant  -  Colonel  Macarty  (French), 
while  Midshipman  Mayrant  writes  :  "  It  is  my  sincere 
opinion  on  the  conduct  of  the  commander  of  said 
ship  [the  Alliance'],  together  with  his  manoeuvres  dur 
ing  the  time  of  action  on  the  23d  of  last  September, 
that  his  motive  must  have  been  to  kill  Captain  Jones, 
and  distress  the  Bonhomme  Richard  so  as  to  cause 

1  Affidavit  of  John  Mayrant,  October  24,  1779. 


THE  BONHOMME  RICHARD  AND  THE  SERAPIS.     1779. 

her  to  strike  to  the  Serapis  and  honor  himself  with 
the  laurels  of  that  day.  In  witness  whereof,  I  have 
hereunto  subscribed  my  name,  on  board  the  Serapis, 
lying  in  Texel,  the  24th  of  October,  1779.  John 
Mayrant." 

The  proof  comes  from  all  quarters  and  from  men 
of  unquestioned  honor.  The  conduct  of  Captain  Lan- 
dais  aroused  great  indignation  both  in  France  and  in 
America.  But  owing  to  the  unorganized  state  of  the 
American  Government,  and  in  view  of  the  critical  con 
dition  of  the  war,  our  commissioners  did  not  carry  the 
matter  to  its  legitimate  end,  fearing  it  might  give  rise 
to  ill  feeling  at  a  time  when  France  had  openly  de 
clared  herself  in  favor  of  the  United  States.  Captain 
Landais  was  discharged  from  the  French  navy  and 
ordered  to  quit  the  country.  When  Congress  learned 
of  his  behavior  he  was  dismissed  from  the  American 
service  also,  the  belief  that  he  was  insane  preventing 
a  severer  penalty. 

Dr.  Franklin,  in  spite  of  his  extreme  caution  and 
desire  to  foster  the  friendly  relations  between  the  two 
peoples,  could  not  refrain  from  expressing  himself  to 
Captain  Landais,  in  a  letter  dated  Passy,  March  12, 
1780,  as  follows  :  "  'No  one  has  ever  learned  the  opinion 
I  have  formed  of  your  conduct.  I  kept  it  entirely  to 
myself;  I  have  not  even  hinted  it  in  my  letters  to 
America,  because  I  would  not  hazard  giving  to  any 
one  a  bias  to  your  prejudice.  By  communicating  a 
part  of  that  opinion  privately  to  you  I  can  do  no 
harm,  for  you  may  burn  it.  I  should  not  give  you  the 
pain  of  reading  it  if  your  demand  did  not  make  it 
necessary.  I  think  you  so  impudent,  so  litigious  and 
quarrelsome  a  man,  even  with  your  best  friends,  that 
peace  and  good  order,  and  consequently  the  quiet  and 
regular  subordination  so  necessary  to  success,  are, 
where  you  preside,  impossible.  These  are  within  my 
observation  and  apprehension ;  your  military  oper 
ations  I  leave  to  more  capable  judges.  If,  therefore,  I 


1779.  THE   ALLIANCE   RUNS  A    GANTLET.  135 

had  twenty  ships  of  war  at  my  disposition,  I  should 
not  give  one  of  them  to  Captain  Landais.  The  same 
temper  which  excluded  him  from  the  French  marine 
would  weigh  equally  with  me.  Of  course  I  shall  not 
place  him  in  the  Alliance" 

On  arrival  in  Texel  the  Serapis  and  the  Connies s  of 
Scarborough  were  refitted  and  given  to  France,  while 
Captain  Jones  assumed  the  command  of  the  Alliance. 
Holland  was  not  unfriendly  to  the  Americans,  but  the 
aristocracy  was  opposed  to  the  prolonged  presence  of 
American  cruisers  in  these  waters,  and  on  the  27th  of 
December,  1779,  the  Alliance  was  compelled  to  put  to 
sea  in  the  face  of  several  hostile  cruisers.  A  number 
of  English  war  ships  were  waiting  for  Captain  Jones, 
and  not  the  least  of  his  brilliant  exploits  was  the  man 
ner  in  which  he  avoided  them.  The  enemy  did  not  be 
lieve  that  even  the  American  commander  would  have 
the  temerity  to  run  the  gantlet  of  the  Straits  of  Dover, 
and  consequently  they  were  expecting  the  Alliance  to 
pass  around  to  the  north  of  the  British  Islands.  But 
again  they  misjudged  their  man.  Closely  hugging  the 
shoals  and  keeping  well  to  windward,  Captain  Jones 
evaded  the  blockading  squadron  off  Texel,  and  instead 
of  heading  north  he  boldly  stood  down  the  English 
Channel  in  plain  view  of  some  of  the  largest  British 
fleets.  In  passing  Dover  he  went  so  close  to  the  Downs 
as  to  accurately  determine  the  force  of  the  war  ships 
there,  and  when  he  passed  the  Isle  of  Wight  he  was 
equally  near  the  British  fleet  anchored  at  Spithead. 
Several  of  the  heaviest  English  cruisers  were  eluded  by 
keeping  well  to  the  east  of  them,  and  on  the  10th  of 
February,  1780,  Captain  Jones  gained  the  Roads  of 
Groix  in  safety.  After  a  short  cruise  in  the  Bay  of 
Biscay,  the  Alliance,  in  June,  1780,  sailed  for  the 
United  States. 

Thus  terminated  one  of  the  most  extraordinary 
cruises  in  naval  history.  The  inefficiency  of  the  ships 
engaged,  their  deficient  armaments,  their  promiscuous 


136      THE  BONHOMME  RICHARD  AND  THE  SERAPIS.     1779. 

and  ill-assorted  crews,  the  daring  of  their  leader,  the 
desperate  energy  displayed  in  the  battle,  together  with 
the  marvelous  success  of  the  enterprise,  stand  unsur 
passed.  England  was  astounded  and  filled  with  dread 
of  the  terrible  Paul  Jones,  while  her  rage  and  humili 
ation  at  the  total  defeat  of  one  of  her  best  frigates  by 
a  man  whom  she  persisted  in  calling  "a  pirate "  passed 
all  bounds.  Captain  Jones  on  returning  to  France 
was  loaded  with  honors,  and  another  squadron  more 
worthy  of  his  ability  was  promised. 

No  one  knew  better  than  Jones  himself  of  the  fate 
that  awaited  him  if  he  fell  into  the  hands  of  the  Eng 
lish.  Ordinary  American  navy  officers  cruised  off  the 
British  coasts,  knowing  that,  if  captured,  they  would 
be  subjected  at  the  worst  to  cruel  imprisonment ;  but 
to  Jones,  capture  meant  a  most  ignominious  death. 
British  opinion  of  Jones  at  that  time  is  strikingly  illus 
trated  by  an  article  published  in  an  American  news 
paper  of  1789  under  the  head  "  News  from  London": 
"  The  infamous  son  of  Lord  Selkirk's  gardener  did  well 
in  changing  his  name  from  John  Paul  to  Paul  John, 
or,  as  is  now  more  generally  accepted,  Jones,  being  the 
more  common  surname  and  of  similar  sound.  The 
gardener  might  possibly  be  an  honest  man,  although 
the  son  was  everything  or  anything  but  that.  Like 
others  in  the  line  of  iniquity,  he  began  with  inferior 
crimes,  and  proceeded  in  regular  gradation  to  those  of 
the  greatest  enormity.  He  plundered  his  master's, 
Lord  Selkirk's,  house,  and  he  murdered  multitudes  of 
his  innocent  countrymen,  besides  numbers  of  his  own 
sailors.  Renegade-like,  he  joined  the  enemies  of  his 
king  and  country,  among  whom  he  was  distinguished 
for  his  barbarity  and  violence.  Polluted  with  crimes 
and  stained  with  innocent  blood,  they  detested  and 
abhorred  the  traitor." 


CHAPTER  VIII. 

CLOSING  NAVAL  ACTIONS   OF  THE  REVOLUTION. 

THE  treatment  that  American  seamen  received  in 
British  prisons  and  prison  ships  during  the  War  of  the 
Revolution  forms  one  of  the  dark  pages  of  English  his 
tory.  Of  the  men  employed  in  Continental  cruisers 
only  a  comparatively  small  number  were  captured,  but 
these  were  treated  with  great  harshness,  as  the  follow 
ing  extract  from  the  British  Annual  Register  for  1781 
(page  152)  will  show  : 

"A  petition  was  presented  to  the  House  of  Com 
mons  the  same  day,  June  20,  1781,  by  Mr.  Fox,  from 
the  American  prisoners  in  Mill  Prison,  Plymouth,  set 
ting  forth  that  they  were  treated  with  less  humanity 
than  the  French  and  Spaniards,  though  by  reason 
that  they  had  no  agent  established  in  this  country  for 
their  protection  they  were  entitled  to  expect  a  larger 
share  of  indulgence  than  others ;  they  had  not  a  suffi 
cient  allowance  of  bread  and  were  very  scantily  fur 
nished  with  clothing.  A  similar  petition  was  present 
ed  to  the  House  of  Peers  by  the  Duke  of  Richmond, 
and  these  petitions  occasioned  considerable  debate  in 
both  houses.  Several  motions  were  grounded  on  these 
petitions,  but  those  proposed  by  the  lords  and  gentle 
men  in  the  opposition  were  determined  in  the  negative, 
and  others,  to  exculpate  the  Government  in  this  busi 
ness,  were  resolved  in  the  affirmative.  It  appeared 
upon  inquiry  that  the  American  prisoners  were  al 
lowed  half  a  pound  of  bread  less  per  day  than  the 
French  and  Spanish  prisoners.  But  the  petitions  of 
the  Americans  produced  no  alterations  in  their  favor, 

12  (137) 


138  CLOSING  NAVAL  ACTIONS  OF  THE  REVOLUTION.  1781. 

and  the  conduct  of  the  administration  was  equally 
impolitic  and  illiberal.  The  additional  allowance 
which  was  solicited  on  behalf  of  the  prisoners  could  be 
no  object  either  to  the  Government  or  to  the  nation ; 
and  it  was  certainly  unwise,  by  treating  American  pris 
oners  worse  than  those  of  France  and  Spain,  to  increase 
the  fatal  animosity  which  has  unhappily  taken  place 
between  the  mother  country  and  the  colonies,  and  this, 
too,  at  a  period  when  the  subjugation  of  the  latter  had 
become  so  hopeless." 

Such  being  the  treatment  of  American  prisoners  in 
England,  where  they  were  under  the  eyes  and  within 
the  knowledge  of  Parliament  and  the  ministers,  we 
can  more  readily  understand  that  their  fellow-sufferers 
in  America  were  treated  with  even  greater  severity. 
The  number  of  prisoners  who  perished  in  the  prison 
ships  anchored  in  Wallabout  Bay,  the  site  of  the  pres 
ent  Brooklyn  Navy  Yard,  is  variously  estimated  to 
have  been  between  ten  thousand  and  ten  thousand  five 
hundred.  Of  this  number  fully  nine  thousand  were 
Americans,  the  others  being  Spaniards  and  Frenchmen 
who  had  been  captured  near  the  American  coast. 

The  prison  ships  were  old  vessels  of  war  which  had 
been  condemned  as  unseaworthy.  They  were  the  Jer 
sey,  the  Whifby,  the  Good  Hope,  the  Falmoutli,  the 
Scheldt  and  the  Clyde,  but  the  Jersey  was  the  ship 
principally  used  for  prisoners,  the  others  being  store- 
ships  and  hospitals.  There  was  no  reason  why  the 
Jersey  could  not  have  been  made  a  comfortable  and 
healthful  place  of  confinement  for  the  great  number  of 
prisoners  who  were  detained  in  her.  She  had  been  a 
ship  of  the  line,  and  with  a  full  supply  of  stores,  pro 
visions,  and  her  heavy  armament  she  was  designed  to 
carry  a  crew  of  four  hundred  men  ;  and  when  she  was 
stripped  of  her  guns,  stores  and  masts  and  reduced  to 
a  hulk,  a  thousand  men  might  easily  have  been  con 
fined  in  her  for  many  months  without  fear  of  disease. 
But  the  British  officers,  by  their  brutal  indifference  to 


_.3'3,M  °- 

S-i    03    w  EC    fc-  ^ 


so     •-i~a:' 


-i 


-™    -„   O  v  •   r-  »->          .    *rt 


1780.  THE  PRISON  SHIP  JERSEY.  139 

the  condition  of  the  prisoners  and  by  a  shameful  mis 
appropriation  of  the  funds,  rendered  the  ships  such 
breeding- places  of  pestilence  that  they  were  compelled 
to  remove  them  from  their  anchorage  near  Manhattan 
Island  to  the  malarious  Wale  Bogt,  or  Wallabout  Bay, 
lest  the  contagion  should  spread  to  the  town.  The 
leakages  in  the  Jersey,  which  were  so  great  that  a  fre 
quent  use  of  her  pumps  was  necessary  to  "  prevent  her 
from  sinking,"  caused  her  to  be  constantly  damp  and 
her  timbers  to  undergo  a  rapid  decay. 

One  object  in  this  treatment  of  American  prisoners 
was  to  induce  them  to  serve  in  a  regiment  of  renegade 
colonists  which  was  comfortably  quartered  on  Long 
Island  within  sight  of  the  prison  ships,  and  the  Ameri 
cans  had  only  to  consent  to  serve  against  the  colonies 
and  they  were  immediately  freed  from  the  pest  ships 
and  allowed  to  go  on  shore.  Be  it  said  to  the  honor  of 
these  patriots  that  few  accepted  the  offer,  preferring 
to  continue  in  their  living  death  and  have  their  bones 
strewed  on  the  sands  of  the  Wale  Bogt  rather  than  serve 
against  their  country.  Among  the  prisoners  confined  in 
the  Jersey  were  David  and  Samuel  Porter,  the  former 
being  the  father  of  Captain  David  Porter,  the  com 
mander  of  the  Essex  in  her  celebrated  cruise  in  the 
Pacific  Ocean  in  1813  and  1814.  Samuel  Porter  died 
in  the  Jersey,  but  his  brother  David  Porter  made  his 
escape  by  concealing  himself  in  a  water  cask  that  was 
carried  ashore  to  be  filled. 

Many  efforts  were  made  to  exchange  these  prisoners 
or  alleviate  their  sufferings,  but  the  rapacity  and  bru 
tality  of  their  keepers  frustrated  the  one  and  prevented 
the  other.  Washington,  in  a  letter  to  Congress  dated 
February  18, 1782,  wrote  :  "  Few  or  none  of  these  prison 
ers  belonged  to  the  regular  cruisers  of  the  colonies,  most 
of  them  being  captured  privateersmen,"  and  as  the  pri 
vateers  seldom  secured  English  prisoners  there  was  no 
means  of  exchange.  David  Sproats,  who  had  charge  of 
the  prison  ships  and  boasted  that  he  had  caused  the  death 


140    CLOSING  NAVAL  ACTIONS  OF  THE  REVOLUTION.  1780. 

of  more  rebels  than  all  the  British  armies  in  America, 
offered  to  exchange  the  prisoners  for  British  soldiers, 
but  the  proposition  was  intentionally  unfair  and  impos 
sible,  and,  as  Washington  wrote,  "it  would  immediately 
give  the  enemy  a  very  considerable  re -enforcement  and 
will  be  a  constant  draft  hereafter  upon  the  prisoners  of 
war  in  our  hands ;  while  the  exchanged  American  pris 
oners,  being  captured  while  engaged  in  private  enter 
prises,  would  return  to  their  homes." 

At  the  close  of  the  year  1779  the  navy  had  been 
reduced  to  a  minimum.  The  vessels  that  won  our 
admiration  had  become  only  memories,  while  their  offi 
cers  and  crews  were  in  British  prisons  or  scattered  far 
and  wide  seeking  other  fields  of  activity.  By  the  fall 
of  Charleston  the  28-gun  frigate  Providence,  the  28-gun 
frigate  Queen  of  France,  the  24-gun  frigate  Boston 
and  the  celebrated  18-gun  ship-sloop  Hanger  were 
either  captured  or  destroyed,  which  left  the  United 
States  with  only  six  vessels  of  war — the  32-gun  ship 
Alliance,  the  32-gun  ship  Confederacy,  the  32-gun 
ship  Deane,  the  28-gun  ship  Trumbull,  the  20-gun  ship 
Due  de  Lauzun  and  the  18-gun  ship  Saratoga.  Not 
only  had  the  vessels  of  the  navy  been  reduced  to  this 
small  number,  but  officers  and  seamen  were  scarce,  as 
the  English,  finding  that  their  commerce  had  suffered 
unprecedented  losses  at  the  hands  of  American  cruisers 
and  privateers,  refused  to  exchange  prisoners,  hoping 
thereby  to  check  this  destruction  of  their  trade.  At 
the  same  time  Parliament  voted  eighty-five  thousand 
men  for  the  navy  during  the  year  1780.  This  increase, 
together  with  the  departure  of  the  French  fleet  under 
Count  d'Estaing  for  the  West  Indies,  made  it  exceed 
ingly  difficult  for  American  vessels  to  get  to  sea. 

Early  in  the  summer  of  1780  Captain  James  Mchol- 
son,  in  the  Trumbull,  succeeded  in  running  the  block 
ade,  and  while  he  was  cruising  in  latitude  35°  54'  north, 
longitude  66°  west,  June  2d,  a  sail  was  descried  from 
the  masthead.  In  hopes  of  decoying  the  stranger  under 


1780. 


THE  TRUMBULL  AX  I)  THE  WATT. 


141 


his  guns,  Captain  Mcholson  rigged  his  ship  in  a  slov 
enly  manner  and  carefully  concealed  all  signs  of  hos 
tility.  After  mano3iivring  so  as  to  ascertain  the  char 
acter  of  the  Trum 
bull  the  stranger  sud 
denly  filled  away, 
evidently  desirous  of 
avoiding  her,  but  the 
American  frigate 
made  all  sail  and 
soon  overhauled  the 
chase.  When  with 
in  a'  hundred  yards 
the  ships  opened  fire 
and  for  nearly  three 
hours  fought  one  of 
the  most  obstinate 
actions  of  the  war. 
So  close  were  the  ves 
sels  at  times  that 
their  yards  inter 
locked,  and  gun  wads 


iCttiS 


MARTINIQUE 


Scene  of  the  naval  operations  of  1780,  1781  and  1182. 

were  frequently  blown  into  the  opposite  ship,  by  which 
the  Trumbull  was  twice  set  on  fire.  Finally  the  ene 
my's  fire  slackened,  while  that  of  the  Trumbull  was 
maintained  with  vigor,  and  victory  seemed  about  to 
decide  in  favor  of  the  American  frigate  when  her 
mainmast  tottered.  Down  it  came  with  a  crash,  drag 
ging  spar  after  spar  with  it,  until  only  the  foremast 
was  left ;  and  the  enemy,  profiting  by  this  disaster, 


142    CLOSING  NAVAL  ACTIONS  OF  THE  REVOLUTION.  1781. 

made  his  escape.  He  was  afterward  known  to  have 
been  a  heavily  armed  letter  of  marque  called  the  Watt, 
commanded  by  a  Mr.  Coulthard,  who  admitted  that 
his  loss  was  ninety-two  killed  or  wounded,  while  Cap 
tain  Nicholson  estimated  her  armament  to  be  from 
thirty-four  to  thirty- six  guns.  The  Trumbull  with 
great  difficulty  regained  port.  Her  loss  was  thirty-nine 
killed  or  wounded.  The  American  crew  was  largely 
made  up  of  raw  hands,  many  of  whom  suffered  from 
seasickness  during  the  engagement. 

In  the  following  August  (1781)  the  Trumbull  was 
again  on  duty,  this  time  as  an  escort  to  a  fleet  of 
twenty-eight  merchantmen.  Her  crew  on  this  occasion 
was  most  unfortunately  assorted,  for,  owing  to  the  im 
possibility  of  securing  enough  American  seamen,  her 
complement  had  been  filled  out  with  British  volun 
teers  ;  but  even  then  she  was  short-handed  by  two 
hundred  men.  When  off  the  Capes  of  the  Delaware 
the  fleet  was  chased  by  three  British  cruisers,  but 
night  intervening  they  were  eluded.  The  next  day  a 
heavy  gale  scattered  the  ships,  each  one  making  the 
best  of  its  way  to  port,  while  the  Trumbull  lost  her 
fore-topmast  and  main- topgallant  mast,  which,  together 
with  the  inefficiency  of  the  crew,  placed  her  in  a  peril 
ous  condition.  At  ten  o'clock  on  the  following  night 
the  British  32-gun  frigate  Iris — formerly  the  American 
32-gun  frigate  Hancock,  captured  off  Halifax  by  the 
Rainbow  and  the  Victor — and  another  ship  closed  on 
her.  The  condition  of  the  Trumbull  at  this  moment 
was  most  unfortunate.  The  weather  came  on  with 
rain  and  squalls,  while  the  wreck  of  her  spars  covered 
the  forecastle  or  dragged  over  her  bow  in  the  sea,  and 
one  arm  of  the  fore- topsail  yard  was  thrust  through 
the  foresail  while  the  other  arm  was  jammed  on  the 
deck.  At  the  first  alarm  many  of  the  TrumbuWs  crew, 
after  extinguishing  the  battle  lanterns,  ran  below,  leav 
ing  the  deck  entirely  dark.  Captain  Nicholson,  with 
not  more  than  fifty  officers  and  American  seamen,  en- 


1780.  LAST  CRUISE  OF  THE  SARATOGA.  143 

deavored  to  work  the  crippled  ship  and  fight  the  ene 
my.  This  handful  of  men  made  a  noble  defense,  Lieu 
tenant  Alexander  Murray  being  especially  commended 
for  his  gallantry.  But  the  approach  of  a  third  English 
ship — the  General  Monk — rendered  further  resistance 
useless,  and  the  colors  were  struck.  Among  the  Ameri 
can  lieutenants  was  Richard  Dale,  who  served  with 
such  distinction  in  the  action  between  the  Bonhomme 
Richard  and  the  Serapis.  Christopher  Raymond  Per 
ry,  afterward  captain,  and  father  of  Oliver  Hazard 
Perry,  also  was  in  this  action.  The  Trumbull  was 
badly  cut  up,  but  as  so  few  of  her  men  were  engaged 
in  the  fight  her  loss  was  only  five  killed  and  eleven 
wounded. 

Early  in  October,  1780,  the  Saratoga,  Captain  James 
Young,  sailed  from  Philadelphia,  and  on  the  8th  of 
that  month  discovered  and  gave  chase  to  three  sails. 
Hoisting  English  colors,  Captain  Young  decoye'd  a 
large,  heavily  armed  ship  under  his  guns,  and  running 
alongside  he  learned  that  she  was  an  English  mer 
chantman  from  Jamaica  bound  for  New  York.  Upon 
this  the  Saratoga  changed  her  flag  for  the  American, 
poured  in  a  broadside,  threw  grapnels  aboard  in  the 
smoke  and  held  the  stranger  fast,  while  Lieutenant 
Joshua  Barney,  at  the  head  of  fifty  men,  boarded,  and 
after  a  sharp  resistance  drove  the  enemy  below.  The 
prize  proved  to  be  the  Charming  Molly,  with  a  crew 
of  ninety  men.1  Leaving  Lieutenant  Barney  aboard 
the  Charming  Molly,  Captain  Young  made  all  sail 
after  the  other  two  vessels,  which  by  this  time  were 
under  the  horizon,  and  after  a  long  chase  they  were 
overhauled  and  captured  with  but  little  resistance. 
They  were  brigs,  one  mounting  fourteen  and  the  other 
four  guns.  The  Saratoga  with  her  prizes  then  made 
for  port,  and  while  off  the  Capes  of  the  Delaware  she 
was  chased  by  the  British  74-gun  ship  of  the  line  In- 

1  Life  of  Joshua  Barney,  p.  85. 


144:    CLOSING  NAVAL  ACTIONS  OF  THE  REVOLUTION.  1780. 

trepid,  and  although  she  made  her  escape  all  her  prizes 
were  recaptured.  This  was  the  last  ever  heard  of  the 
Saratoga.  It  was  thought  that  she  foundered  in  the 
gale  of  the  following  day. 

After  his  extraordinary  action  with  the  Serapis 
Captain  Jones  remained  in  Europe  several  months 
planning  new  expeditions  against  the  English  coast, 
and  on  the  7th  of  September,  1780,  he  sailed  from 
France  in  the  20-gun  ship  Ariel,  lent  by  the  king.  The 
Ariel  was  detained  a  month  off  the  port  of  L'Orient  by 
unfavorable  winds.  On  the  8th  of  October  she  put  to 
sea,  but  on  the  same  night  she  encountered  a  heavy 
gale,  during  which  her  lower  yards  frequently  dipped 
into  the  sea.  In  order  to  keep  her  from  foundering 
the  foremast  was  cut  away,  and  soon  afterward  the 
heel  of  the  mainmast,  having  worked  out  of  the  step, 
also  went  over,  bringing  down  with  it  the  mizzenmast. 
With  great  difficulty  Captain  Jones  made  his  way  back 
to  port,  and  it  was  not  until  the  18th  of  December, 

1780,  that  he  sailed  again.     When  two  weeks  out  he 
fell  in  with  an  English  ship  and  began  an  action.     The 
enemy  soon  struck,  but  in  the  darkness  and  confusion 
of  the  moment  made  his  escape.    The  name  of  this  ship 
has  not  been  determined.     On  the  18th  of  February, 

1781,  Captain  Jones  reached  Philadelphia.     Congress 
tendered  him  a  vote  of  thanks  for  his  brilliant  services, 
and  as  a  token  of  their  high  esteem  gave  him  the  com 
mand  of  the  new  74-gun  ship  America,  then  nearly 
completed ;  but  the  war  ended  before  she  got  to  sea, 
when  Congress  presented  her  to  France  in  compensa 
tion  for  the  74-gun  ship  of  the  line  Magnifique,  which 
was  lost  in  Boston  harbor.     For  lack  of  suitable  ves 
sels  Captain  Jones  never  went  to  sea  again  in  the  serv 
ice  of  the  United  States.     At  the  close  of  the  Revolu 
tion  his  restless  spirit  led  him  to  seek  a  new  field  of 
activity,   and  this  he  found  in  the  Russian  service, 
which  he  entered  with  the  stipulation  that  he  would  be 
free  to  offer  his  services  to  the  United  States  should 


1781.  TWO   BRIGS  ATTACK  THE  ALLIANCE.  145 

they  be  called  for.  In  his  conflicts  with  the  Turks  he 
again  displayed  his  great  skill  in  seamanship  and  bat 
tle,  and  at  the  end  of  that  war  he  had  attained  the  rank 
of  rear-admiral.  In  1792  he  was  appointed  the  Ameri 
can  consul  to  Algiers,  but  before  the  commission 
reached  him  he  died  in  Paris,  July  18,  1792. 

In  February,  1781.  the  Alliance,  Captain  John 
Barry,  sailed  from  Boston  for  France  with  Colonel 
Laurens  aboard  as  a  passenger.  After  capturing  the 
privateer  Alert  on  the  outward  passage  the  frigate 
arrived  at  her  destination,  and  on  the  31st  of  March 
she  sailed  from  L'Orient  in  company  with  the  French 
40-gun  letter  of  marque  Marquis  de  la  Fayette.  The 
third  day  out  they  chased  and  captured  the  British 
26-gun  privateer  Mars,  manned  by  one  hundred  and 
twelve  men,  and  the  Minerva  of  ten  guns,  carrying 
fifty -five  men.  From  this  time  the  Alliance  continued 
her  cruise  alone,  and  on  the  28th  of  May  two  sails  were 
discovered  bearing  for  her.  At  this  time  the  wind  had 
subsided,  so  that  the  Alliance  lost  steerage  way,  but 
the  strangers,  being  smaller  vessels,  had  the  advantage 
in  the  light  breeze,  and,  with  the  aid  of  sweeps,  select 
ed  positions  off  the  frigate's  quarter  and  stern  and 
opened  an  animated  fire.  The  situation  was  exasper 
ating  in  the  extreme,  for  Captain  Barry  could  bring 
only  a  few  guns  to  bear,  while  the  enemy  were  pouring 
in  full  broadsides.  For  fully  an  hour  the  English 
brigs  kept  up  their  cannonading  with  comparative  im 
punity,  and  finally  a  shot  carried  away  the  American 
flag.  So  confident  were  they  of  capturing  the  frigate 
that  they  now  ceased  their  fire  and  hailed  to  know  if 
she  had  struck.  Captain  Barry  long  before  had  been 
desperately  wounded  in  the  shoulder  with  a  grape- 
shot,  and  was  below.  As  matters  stood,  the  Alliance 
was  in  a  hopeless  condition,  while  further  resistance 
could  only  result  in  useless  sacrifice  of  life,  but  at  this 
moment  the  ship  felt  a  breeze  and  gradually  gained 
steerage  way.  This  reversed  the  state  of  affairs,  for 


H6    CLOSING  NAVAL  ACTIONS  OF  THE  REVOLUTION.  1779. 

now,  as  the  frigate's  powerful  batteries  came  slowly 
into  play,  missiles  of  destruction  began  to  fly  right 
and  left.  Running  between  the  two  brigs,  the  Alliance 
delivered  her  broadsides  with  full  effect  and  soon  com 
pelled  the  Englishmen  to  strike.  They  proved  to  be 
the  16-gun  brig  Atalanta,  Commander  Sampson  Ed 
wards,  and  the  14-gun  brig  Trepassey,  Commander 
James  Smith.  Captain  Smith  and  five  men  of  the  Tre- 
passey  were  killed  and  ten  were  wounded,  while  the 
Atalanta  lost  five  killed  and  twenty  wounded.1  The 
former  carried  one  hundred  and  thirty  men  and  the 
latter  eighty.  On  this  occasion  the  Alliance  mounted 
twenty-eight  18-pounders  and  twelve  9-pounders.  Her 
loss  was  eleven  killed  and  twenty-one  wounded.  The 
Trepassey  was  sent  to  England  as  a  cartel,  and  the 
Atalanta  was  ordered  to  the  United  States,  but  while 
endeavoring  to  run  into  Boston  she  was  recaptured. 
The  Alliance  reached  port  in  safety. 

In  1779  the  Confederacy — one  of  the  new  frigates 
built  in  Norwich,  Connecticut,  in  1778 — commanded  by 
Captain  Seth  Harding,  sailed  for  Europe  with  John 
Jay  as  a  passenger.  Taking  a  southerly  course  this 
new  frigate  experienced  a  misfortune  which  frequently 
befell  the  vessels  of  that  day.  Her  rigging  had  been 
fitted  in  the  cold  climate  of  New  England,  and  as  she 
approached  the  warm  latitudes  to  the  south  her  stays 
and  shrouds  slacked  up  to  an  alarming  extent,  and  while 
off  the  Bahamas  in  this  critical  condition  she  was  over 
taken  by  a  violent  gale.  All  efforts  to  save  her  masts 
were  futile,  and  spar  after  spar  and  mast  after  mast 
went  over  the  side,  until  even  the  bowsprit  was  cut 
away,  leaving  her  rolling  in  the  trough  of  the  sea  like 
a  log.  After  being  tossed  about  in  this  helpless  condi 
tion  for  several  weeks  Captain  Harding  reached  Mar 
tinique,  where  Mr.  Jay  took  passage  in  the  French 
frigate  PAurore.  The  Confederacy  was  refitted,  and 

1  Allen's  History  of  the  British  Navy,  vol.  i,  p.  275. 


1782.  LAST  ACTION  OF  THE  WAR.  147 

during  the  remainder  of  the  war  she  was  employed  in 
keeping  up  communications  between  the  United  States 
and  France.  While  on  a  return  passage  from  Cape 
Frangais,  June  22,  1781,  laden  with  military  stores, 
she  was  chased  by  a  two-decker  and  a  frigate,  and  as 
both  ships  succeeded  in  getting  alongside  Captain 
Harding  was  compelled  to  strike.  The  British  ships 
were  the  Orpheus  and  the  Roebuck. 

In  the  early  part  of  1782 — which  was  practically  the 
last  year  of  the  great  struggle— the  Deane  (or  the 
Hague],  Captain  Samuel  Nicholson,  made  a  cruise  of  two 
months  and  captured  four  vessels  whose  armaments 
aggregated  forty- eight  guns.  In  September  of  the 
same  year  the  Deane,  commanded  by  Captain  John 
Manly,  made  a  cruise  in  the  West  Indies,  during  which 
she  was  chased  several  times ;  and  at  one  time  Captain 
Manly  was  compelled  to  run  his  ship  on  a  sand  bar, 
but  he  soon  succeeded  in  getting  her  off,  and  after 
firing  thirteen  guns  in  defiance  he  made  his  escape. 

The  last  action  of  the  war  was  fought  by  the  Alli 
ance,  Captain  John  Barry.  While  making  a  run  to 
Havana  this  frigate  was  chased  by  several  English 
cruisers,  and  when  she  was  endeavoring  to  escape  from 
them  a  French  50-gun  ship  was  sighted.  Relying  upon 
her  support  Captain  Barry  turned  on  his  pursuers  and 
engaged  the  enemy's  leading  ship,  the  others  making 
for  the  Frenchman.  After  a  hot  cannonade  of  half  an 
hour  the  Englishman  signaled  for  assistance,  and  the 
Alliance  stood  for  the  Frenchman  in  order  to  arrange 
some  plan  of  action,  but  the  enemy,  finding  their  forces 
too  light,  made  their  escape.  Captain  Barry  pursued, 
but  as  the  Frenchman  was  too  dull  a  sailer  to  keep  in 
sight  the  chase  was  given  over.  Captain  Barry  report 
ed  three  killed  and  eleven  wounded.  The  ship  that 
engaged  the  Alliance  is  not  definitely  known,  but  was 
thought  to  be  the  28-gun  ship  Sibyl. 

During  the  latter  part  of  this  war  some  of  the  priva 
teers  and  State  cruisers  were  engaged  in  actions  that  were 


148    CLOSING  NAVAL   ACTIONS  OF  THE  REVOLUTION.  1782. 

highly  creditable.  In  April,  1782,  an  action  took  place 
between  the  Pennsylvania  State  cruiser  Hyder  Ally 
and  the  British  cruiser  General  Monk,  which  in  many 
respects  was  one  of  the  most  brilliant  affairs  of  the  war. 
The  former  was  a  merchant  ship  carrying  sixteen  6- 
pounders  and  a  crew  of  one  hundred  and  ten  men, 
under  Lieutenant  Joshua  Barney.  The  Hyder  Ally 
had  orders  to  convoy  a  fleet  of  merchantmen  down  to 
the  capes  and  then  return  to  the  State  jurisdiction,  as 
it  was  not  intended  to  protect  vessels  beyond  those 
boundaries.  On  the  8th  of  April  the  convoy  dropped 
down  to  Cape  May  Roads,  and  while  the  merchantmen 
were  waiting  for  a  breeze  to  take  them  to  sea  two  Eng 
lish  cruisers  were  descried  standing  for  them.  Lieu 
tenant  Barney  immediately  signaled  the  merchantmen 
to  make  sail  up  the  bay  while  he  covered  their  retreat. 
The  first  Englishman  soon  came  up  with  the  Hyder 
Ally,  but  after  discharging  a  broadside  he  passed  up  the 
bay  after  the  merchantmen.  Lieutenant  Barney  made 
no  reply  to  this  fire,  but  reserved  himself  for  the  sec 
ond  vessel,  which  was  the  20-gun  sloop  of  war  General 
Monk.  On  came  the  Englishman,  and  he  was  about  to 
pass  the  Hyder  Ally  as  his  consort  had  done,  when  the 
Americans  fired  a  broadside  at  pistol  shot,  upon  which 
the  General  Monk  put  about  so  as  to  board.  Per 
ceiving  the  intention  of  the  British  commander,  Lieuten 
ant  Barney  instructed  his  men  at  the  wheel  to  execute 
his  next  orders  "  by  the  rule  of  contrary,"  as  he  ex 
pressed  it,  and  just  as  the  ships  were  about  to  foul  the 
quick-witted  American  commander  called  out  in  a  loud 
voice,  which  he  intended  to  be  heard  aboard  the  ene 
my's  vessel:  "  Hard  aport  your  helm  !  Do  you  want 
him  to  run  aboard  of  us  \ "  The  helmsmen  understood 
their  cue,  and  clapping  the  wheel  hard  to  the  starboard 
brought  the  Englishman's  jib  boom  afoul  of  their  fore 
rigging,  which  exposed  him  to  a  raking  fire  from  the 
entire  American  broadside.  Immediately  lashing  the 
spar  to  his  fore  rigging,  Lieutenant  Barney  poured 


1782.    THE  HYDER  ALLY  AND  THE  GENERAL  MONK.     149 

several  broadsides  in  rapid  succession  upon  the  help 
less  Englishmen,  so  that  in  thirty  minutes  they  were 
obliged  to  surrender.  Hastily  securing  his  prize,  Lieu 
tenant  Barney  made  sail  up  the  bay  and  rejoined  his 
convoy  before  another  English  ship,  a  frigate,  could 
come  within  range. 

The  General  Monk,  Captain  Rodgers,  mounted 
twenty  9-pounders  and  carried  a  crew  of  one  hundred 
and  thirty-six  men,  of  whom  twenty  were  killed  and 
thirty-three  were  wounded.  The  Hyder  Ally  mounted 
sixteen  6-pounders  and  carried  a  crew  of  one  hundred 
and  ten  men.  Her  loss  was  four  killed  and  eleven 
wounded. 

Comparative  force  and  loss. 

Guns       Lbs.         Crew.      Killed.  Wounded.  Total. 

Hyder  Ally:        16        96        110          4          11        1M  Time  30m 
General  Monk :    20      180        136        20          33        53  ) 

Mr.  Gilpin,  in  his  Life  of  Captain  Rodgers,  accounts 
for  the  defeat  of  the  General  Monk  in  this  wise : 
"  Captain  Rodgers  soon  had  melancholy  proof  that 
his  fears  for  his  guns  were  too  well  founded.  As  soon 
as  they  were  heated  they  became  quite  unmanageable, 
and  many  of  them  overset."  It  is,  of  course,  to  be  re 
gretted  that  the  General  Monies  guns  "overset"  and 
became  "  heated  "  in  the  presence  of  an  enemy,  but  it 
is  remarkable  that  Mr.  Gilpin  had  not  discovered  these 
qualities  in  the  General  Months  guns  before  this  action, 
for  he  had  described  her  as  a  most  useful  and  success 
ful  ship.  On  page  54  he  says :  "  While  Captain  Rodgers 
commanded  this  ship  {General  Monk\  he  took,  or  as 
sisted  in  taking,  more  than  sixty  vessels  from  the  ene 
my,  though  he  did  not  command  her  above  two  years." 
The  General  Monk  was  taken  into  the  United  States 
service  under  the  name  of  General  Washington. 

On  the  6th  of  September,  1781,  the  20-gun  private 
armed  cruiser  Congress,  of  Philadelphia,  commanded 
by  Mr.  Geddes,  while  cruising  off  the  coast  of  Georgia 


150    CLOSING  NAVAL  ACTIONS  OF  THE  REVOLUTION.  1781. 

and  South  Carolina,  fell  in  with  the  British  16-gun 
sloop  of  war  Savage,  Captain  Sterling.  On  discovering 
the  superior  force  of  the  Americans  Captain  Sterling 
stood  off  as  if  to  escape,  while  the  Congress  immediately 
made  sail  in  chase,  and  by  half  past  ten  o'clock  she 
opened  with  her  bow  guns,  and  at  eleven  was  close  on 
the  Englishman's  quarter,  where  an  effective  fire  of  mus 
ketry  was  opened,  to  which  the  enemy  made  a  spirited 
reply.  Forging  ahead,  Mr.  Geddes  engaged  in  a  fierce 
broadside  duel  until  his  rigging  became  unmanageable, 
when  he  fell  astern  to  repair  damages.  Having  done 
this  he  again  closed  with  the  Savage,  and  in  the  course 
of  an  hour  reduced  her  to  a  wreck.  So  near  were  the 
vessels  at  times  that  the  men  frequently  were  scorched 
by  the  flashes  of  their  opponent' s  guns,  and  it  is  even 
asserted  that  shot  were  thrown  by  hand  into  the  oppo 
site  ship  with  effect.  The  Englishman  was  now  re 
duced  to  a  deplorable  condition,  his  quarter-deck  and 
forecastle  were  swept  of  men,  his  mizzenmast  had  gone 
by  the  board  and  the  mainmast  threatened  to  follow. 
At  this  juncture  their  boatswain  appeared  on  the  fore 
castle,  waved  his  hat  and  announced  that  they  had 
surrendered.  The  Congress,  although  mounting  a  few 
more  guns  than  her  opponent,  was  manned  almost  en 
tirely  by  landsmen — owing  to  the  scarcity  of  seamen 
—while  the  /Savage  was  a  regular  cruiser,  manned  by 
the  regular  complement  of  seamen.  The  loss  in  killed 
or  wounded  in  the  Congress  was  thirty,  while  that  of 
the  Savage,  according  to  English  accounts,  was  eight 
killed  and  twenty-four  wounded. 

One  of  the  noteworthy  features  of  the  struggle  for 
American  independence  was  the  prominent  part  that 
private  enterprise  took  in  the  operations  on  the  sea. 
While  not  a  single  Continental  cruiser  was  taken  by 
British  privateers,  sixteen  English  cruisers,  mounting 
in  all  two  hundred  and  twenty-six  guns,  were  taken  by 
American  privateers  or  by  private  enterprise.  They 
were  the  14-gun  cruiser  Hichiribrook,  captured  by  an 


1782.  PRIVATE  ENTERPRISE  ON  THE  OCEAN. 

American  privateer  at  sea;  the  12-gun  cruiser  YorTc, 
captured  by  boats  from  the  land ;  the  10-gun  cruiser 
Enterprise,  captured  by  boats  from  the  land ;  the  14- 
gun  cruiser  West  Florida,  captured  by  boats  at  Pen- 
sacola  ;  the  14-gun  cruiser  Hope,  captured  by  an  Ameri 
can  privateer ;  the  10-gun  cruiser  Harlem,  captured  by 
an  American  privateer;  the  14-gun  cruiser  Coureur, 
captured  by  an  American  privateer ;  the  14-gun  cruis 
er  Active,  captured  by  boats  from  New  York ;  the  8- 
gun  cruiser  Egmont,  captured  by  an  American  priva 
teer  ;  the  20-gun  cruiser  Sandwich,  captured  by  boats 
from  Charleston  ;  th£  20-gun  cruiser  Germain,  captured 
by  an  American^rivajfi£r_;  the  14-gun  cruiser  Ravage, 
captured  by  the  Pennsylvania  State  cruiser  Congress ; 
the  14-gun  cruiser  Snake,  captured  by  an  American  pri 
vateer  ;  the  20-gun  cruiser  General  Monk,  captured  by 
the  Pennsylvania  State  cruiser  Hyder  Ally ;  the  14- 
gun  cruiser  Allegiance,  captured  by  an  American  pri 
vateer;  and  the  14-gun  cruiser  Prince  Edward,  cap 
tured  by  an  American  privateer. 

The  total  number  of  Continental  vessels  lost  during 
the  Revolution,  by  capture,  wreck,  etc.,  was  twenty- 
four,  carrying  in  all  four  hundred  and  seventy  guns. 
The  loss  of  the  British  Government  war  vessels  was 
one  hundred  and  two,  carrying  in  all  two  thousand  six 
hundred  and  twenty-two  guns.  About  eight  hundred 
vessels  of  all  kinds  were  captured  from  the  English  by 
American  cruisers,  privateers  and  by  private  enterprise. 


PAET   SECOND. 
WARS  WITH  PRANCE   AND   TRIPOLI. 


13 


CHAPTER  I. 

OUTBKEAK   OF   THE   WAR   WITH   FRANCE. 

As  might  have  been  expected,  the  termination  of 
the  war  for  American  independence  found  the  United 
States  in  a  deplorable  condition.  The  treasury  long 
before  had  been  exhausted,  an  enormous  debt  was 
saddled  upon  the  people,  and,  although  nominally  at 
peace,  Great  Britain  kept  up  an  insidious  war  on  the 
young  nation ;  and  before  treating  on  commerce  she 
insisted  that  each  State  should  have  separate  ministers, 
while  an  order  in  Council  excluded  from  the  West  In 
dies  all  American  vessels  and  American  products  ex 
cept  in  British  ships.  Not  only  was  the  United  States 
harassed  by  the  inimical  attitude  of  England,  but  the 
positions  assumed  by  the  several  States  themselves 
threatened  to  break  the  "rope  of  sand"  that  bound 
them  together.  "The  Legislatures  of  States  having 
ports  convenient  for  foreign  commerce  taxed  the  peo 
ple  of  States  trading  through  them,  others  taxed  im 
ports  from  adjoining  States,  and  in  some  instances  the 
navigation  laws  treated  people  of  other  States  as  aliens. 
The  authority  of  Congress  was  disregarded  by  violating 
not  only  the  Treaty  of  Paris,  but  treaties  with  France 
and  Holland."1 

Such  being  the  political  chaos  in  which  the  United 
States  was  thrown  at  the  close  of  the  Revolution,  it 
was  found  necessary  to  sell  the  few  remaining  ships  of 
the  navy,  while  their  officers  and  men  sought  employ 
ment  in  other  fields  of  activity ;  so  that,  when  peace 

1  Frothingham's  Rise  of  the  Republic. 

(155) 


156  OUTBREAK  OF  THE  WAR  WITH  FRANCE.   1787-1794. 

was  proclaimed  in  the  United  States,  April  11,  1783, 
only  the  Alliance,  the  Deane  and  the  General  WasJi- 
ington  were  left  as  mementos  of  the  gallant  fight  made 
by  our  seamen  against  the  mistress  of  the  ocean.  The 
first  of  these,  the  beautiful  Alliance,  was  converted 
into  an  Indiaman,  and  in  1787,  under  the  command  of 
Thomas  Read,  formerly  a  captain  in  the  navy,  she  sailed 
for  China. 

After  long  deliberation  a  constitution  was  framed 
and  adopted,  and  on  the  30th  of  April,  1789,  it  went 
into  effect,  with  George  Washington  as  President  of 
the  United  States  of  America.  By  this  scheme  of  gov 
ernment  the  Secretary  of  War  was  intrusted  with  the 
management  of  all  marine  forces,  but  it  was  not  until 
the  27th  of  March,  1794,  that  a  law  was  passed  for  the 
establishment  of  a  navy.  By  this  act  six  frigates, 
rating  not  less  than  thirty-two  guns,  were  ordered,  but 
it  is  more  than  probable  that  even  this  step  would  not 
have  been  taken  had  it  not  been  for  the  difficulties  that 
arose  with  Algiers.  Soon  after  the  close  of  the  Revo 
lution  the  Dey  of  Algiers  discovered  that  a  new  nation 
with  a  commerce  had  sprung  into  existence,  and  he  pro 
ceeded  to  extort  an  annual  tribute  similar  to  that  paid 
him  by  the  powers  of  Europe.  On  the  25th  of  July, 
1785,  the  American  schooner  Maria,  of  Boston,  com 
manded  by  Isaac  Stevens,  was  seized  near  the  Straits 
of  Gibraltar  by  an  Algerian  corsair,  and  Ijer  crew  was 
held  in  captivity  to  await  ransom,  and  five  days  after 
ward  the  ship  Dauphin,  of  Philadelphia,  commanded 
by  Richard  O'Brien,  met  the  same  fate.  Thus  twenty- 
one  Americans  were  thrown  into  slavery.  The  reports 
of  these  proceedings  reached  the  United  States  in  due 
time,  but  such  was  the  opposition  to  a  standing  army 
or  a  permanent  naval  force  that  no  decisive  action  was 
taken. 

The  experience  of  a  hundred  years  has  proved  the 
necessity  of  a  permanent  and  progressive  naval  force, 
and  has  shown  that  the  arguments  used  against  it  at 


1789.  OPPOSITION  TO  A  NAVY.  157 

the  close  of  the  eighteenth  century  were  groundless ; 
but  a  brief  review  of  the  position  taken  by  the  oppo 
nents  to  the  establishment  of  a  marine  may  be  interest 
ing.  William  Maclay,  who  with  Robert  Morris  repre 
sented  Pennsylvania  in  the  first  United  States  Senate, 
thus  expresses  the  feeling  of  the  opposition:  "It  is 
the  design  of  the  Court  party  [referring  to  those  who 
wished  the  new  Government  to  conform  as  much  as 
possible  to  the  monarchical  ideas  of  the  Old  World]  to 
have  a  fieet  and  an  army.  This  is  but  the  entering 
wedge  of  a  new  monarchy  in  America,  after  all  the 
bloodshed  and  sufferings  of  a  seven  years'  war  to  estab 
lish  a  republic.  The  Indian  War  is  forced  forward  to 
justify  our  having  a  standing  army,  and  eleven  unfor 
tunate  men  now  in  slavery  in  Algiers  is  the  pretext  for 
fitting  out  a  fleet."  In  another  place  he  says:  "This 
thing  of  a  fleet  has  been  working  among  our  members 
all  the  session.  I  have  heard  it  break  out  often.  It  is 
another  menace  to  our  republican  institutions."1 

Charles  W.  Goldsborough,  who  was  intimately  con 
nected  with  the  navy  in  its  earliest  days  as  chief  clerk 
of  the  Navy  Department  and  as  secretary  of  the  Naval 
Board,  said:  "The  resolution  of  the  House  of  Repre 
sentatives,  that  a  naval  force  adequate  to  the  protec 
tion  of  the  commerce  of  the  United  States  ought  to  be 
provided,  was  passed  by  a  majority  of  two  voices  only. 
Its  adversaries,  who  were  powerful  in  numbers  and  in 
talents,  urged  with  force  and  eloquence  that  the  force 
contemplated  was  inadequate  ;  that  the  finances  of  the 
nation  did  not  justify  expensive  fleets ;  that  it  was  a 
sacred  duty  as  well  as  a  sound  policy  to  discharge  the 
X>ublic  debt ;  that  older  and  more  powerful  nations 
bought  the  friendship  of  Algiers,  and  we  might  do 
the  same,  or  that  we  might  subsidize  some  of  the  Eu 
ropean  naval  powers  to  protect  our  trade." 

Portugal  about  this  time  placed  a  blockade  at  the 

1  William  Maclay's  Journal,  p.  383. 


158          OUTBREAK  OF  THE   WAR  WITH   FRANCE.  1793-1794. 

Straits  of  Gibraltar,  confining  the  depredations  of  these 
rovers  to  the  Mediterranean,  which  relieved  the  Ameri 
cans  from  farther  molestations  until  early  in  October, 
1793,  when,  by  a  truce  of  twelve  months,  the  blockade 
was  removed.  Immediately  afterward  a  squadron  of 
four  ships — three  xebecs  and  one  brig — passed  into  the 
Atlantic,  and  in  one  cruise  captured  ten  American  mer 
chantmen  and  enslaved  one  hundred  and  five  citizens. 
Soon  after  this  they  seized  the  brig  Minerva,  of  New 
York,  commanded  by  Joseph  Ingraham,  making  a 
total  of  one  hundred  and  twelve  American  captives. 
This  act,  coupled  with  the  Dey's  refusal  to  treat  unless 
all  tribute  that  he  reckoned  as  being  in  arrears  was 
paid,  induced  Congress  to  authorize  the  construction 
of  these  six  frigates.  They  were  laid  down  as  follows : 
The  44-gun  frigate  Constitution,  1,576  tons,  $302,719, 
at  Boston ;  the  44-gun  frigate  President,  1,576  tons, 
$220,910,  at  New  York  ;  the  44-gun  frigate  United 
States,  1,576  tons,  $299,336,  at  Philadelphia;  the 
36-gun  frigate  Chesapeake,  1,244  tons,  $220,678,  at 
Norfolk,  Va.  ;  the  36-gun  frigate  Congress,  1,268  tons, 
$197,246,  at  Portsmouth,  N.  H. ;  the  36-gun  frigate 
Constellation,  1,265  tons,  $314,212,  at  Baltimore. 

According  to  the  report  of  the  Secretary  of  War, 
April  1,  1794,  these  frigates  "separately  would  be 
superior  to  any  European  frigate  of  the  usual  dimen 
sion  ;  that  if  assailed  by  numbers  they  would  always 
be  able  to  lead  ahead  ;  that  they  would  never  be 
obliged  to  go  into  action  but  on  their  own  terms,  ex 
cept  in  a  calm  ;  and  that  in  heavier  weather  they  would 
be  capable  of  engaging  double-decked  ships."  Thus, 
at  the  outset,  American  naval  constructors  aimed  at 
a  higher  standard  of  war  ships  than  had  yet  been 
attained,  and  that  they  reached  the  mark  is  convin 
cingly  shown  in  the  wars  with  France,  Tripoli  and 
England  ;  and  at  the  close  of  the  War  of  1812  Great 
Britain  in  self-defense  was  compelled  to  build  ships 
on  "exactly  the  same  plan."  Speaking  of  the  con- 


1797.  BUILDING  A  NEW  NAVY,  159 

struction  of  these  American  frigates,  James  said : 
"  Every  thing  that  was  new  in  the  navies  of  England 
and  France  was  tried,  and,  if  approved,  adopted,  no 
matter  at  what  expense.  There  were  no  contractors  to 
make  a  hard  bargain  pay  by  deteriorating  the  quality 
of  the  article ;  no  deputies,  ten  deep,  each  to  get  a 
picking  out  of  the  job.  The  Executive  Government 
agreed  directly  with  the  artisans,  and  not  a  plank  was 
shifted  or  a  long  bolt  driven  without  the  scrutinizing 
eye  of  one  of  the  captains  or  commodores — of  him, 
perhaps,  who  expected  at  no  distant  day  to  risk  his 
life  and  honor  on  board  the  very  ship  whose  equip 
ment  he  was  superintending."  To  Joshua  Humphreys, 
of  Philadelphia,  belongs  the  honor  of  designing  these 
ships,  but  many  valuable  suggestions  in  their  construc 
tion,  made  by  experienced  commanders  who  had  served 
in  the  navy  of  the  Revolution,  were  adopted.  The 
United  States  was  the  first  of  these  new  cruisers  to  get 
into  the  water,  being  launched  at  Philadelphia,  July  10, 
1797.  The  Constellation,  constructed  by  David  Stodert, 
followed  at  Baltimore  on  the  7th  of  September  of  the 
same  year ;  and  on  the  20th  of  September,  1797,  the 
Constitution  was  launched  at  Boston.  The  Constitu 
tion  was  built  by  George  Cloghorne  and  Mr.  Hartly, 
of  Boston.  "When  she  was  ready  to  be  launched," 
said  Rear- Admiral  George  Henry  Preble,  "Captain 
Nicholson,  who  had  charge  of  her  construction,  left 
the  shipyard  to  get  his  breakfast,  leaving  express  or 
ders  not  to  hoist  any  flag  over  her  until  his  return, 
intending  to  reserve  that  honor  to  himself.  Among 
the  workmen  upon  her  was  a  shipwright  and  calker 
named  Samuel  Bentley,  who,  with  the  assistance  of 
another  workman  named  Harris,  bent  on  and  hoisted 
the  Stars  and  Stripes  during  Captain  Nicholson's  ab 
sence.  When  the  captain  returned  from  his  breakfast 
he  was  very  wrathy,  and  expressed  himself  in  words 
more  strong  than  polite.  Bentley  died  in  Boston  in 
1852."  Congress  ordered  that  the  complements  of  the 


160  OUTBREAK  OF  THE  WAR  WITH  FRANCE.          1794. 

44-gun  frigates  should  be  three  hundred  and  fifty -nine, 
and  those  of  the  36-gun  frigates  three  hundred  and 
twelve. 

On  the  5th  of  June,  1794,  the  following  were  selected 
to  be  captains  in  the  new  navy :  John  Barry,  Samuel 
Nicholson,  Silas  Talbot,  Joshua  Barney,  Richard  Dale 
and  Thomas  Truxtun.  All  these  men  were  identified 
with  the  struggle  for  independence,  four  of  them  hav 
ing  been  captains  in  the  navy.  We  have  followed 
Captain  Barry  in  the  Lexington,  the  RaleigJi,  and  in 
the  Alliance ;  Captain  Nicholson  was  commander  of 
the  cutter  Dolphin  and  the  frigate  Deane ;  Silas  Tal 
bot,  though  not  in  command  of  a  Government  vessel, 
gave  efficient  aid  by  capturing  the  schooners  Pigot, 
Lively,  King  George,  Adventure,  Elliot  and  Dragon, 
besides  being  associated  with  several  other  creditable 
affairs.  Richard  Bale  was  serving  as  master  in  the 
Lexington  when  that  vessel  was  captured  by  the  Alert, 
and  he  was  first  lieutenant  in  the  BonTiomme  Richard 
during  her  extraordinary  fight  with  the  Serapis. 
Thomas  Truxtun  was  engaged  in  many  daring  exploits 
of  the  Revolution.  Joshua  Barney,  famous  for  his 
action  with  the  General  Monk,  declined  to  serve,  and 
on  the  18th  of  July,  1794,  James  Sever  was  appointed 
in  his  place.  The  lieutenants  and  other  officers  were 
to  be  selected  by  these  commanders,  the  first  lieutenant 
under  Captain  Barry  ranking  the  corresponding  officer 
under  Captain  Nicholson,  and  so  on  through  the  list. 

By  an  act  of  Congress,  March  27,  1794r  the  pay  in 
the  navy  was  fixed  as  follows :  Captain,  seventy-five 
dollars  a  month  and  six  rations  a  day,  twenty-five  cents 
being  allowed  for  each  ration  ;  lieutenant,  forty  dollars 
and  three  rations ;  lieutenant  of  marines,  twenty-six 
dollars  and  two  rations ;  chaplain,  forty  dollars  and 
two  rations ;  sailing  master,  forty  dollars  and  two  ra 
tions  ;  surgeon,  fifty  dollars  and  two  rations  ;  surgeon's 
mate,  thirty  dollars  and  two  rations  ;  purser,  forty  dol 
lars  and  two  rations.  The  boatswain,  gunner,  sail- 


1795-1798.          A  NAVY  DEPARTMENT  CHEATED. 

maker  and  carpenter  received  fourteen  dollars  and  two 
rations.  The  pay  of  midshipmen,  petty  officers,  able 
seamen,  ordinary  seamen  and  marines  was  to  be  fixed 
by  the  President,  while  they  received  one  ration  a  day. 
By  an  act  of  July  1,  1797,  the  pay  of  a  lieutenant  of 
marines  was  raised  to  fifty  dollars  a  month,  and  that 
of  the  boatswain,  gunner,  carpenter  and  sailmaker  to 
twenty  dollars.  The  rations  consisted  of — Sunday,  a 
pound  and  a  half  of  beef,  half  a  pint  of  rice  ;  Monday, 
a  pound  of  pork,  half  a  pint  of  peas,  four  ounces  of 
cheese  ;  Tuesday,  a  pound  and  a  half  of  beef,  a  pound 
of  potatoes  ;  Wednesday,  half  a  pint  of  rice,  two  ounces 
of  butter,  six  ounces  of  molasses ;  Thursday,  a  pound 
of  pork,  half  a  pint  of  peas  ;  Friday,  a  pound  of  pota 
toes,  a  pound  of  salt  fish,  two  ounces  of  butter  or  one 
gill  of  oil ;  Saturday,  a  pound  of  pork,  half  a  pint  of 
peas,  four  ounces  of  cheese.  One  pound  of  ]3read  and 
half  a  pint  of  spirits,  or  one  quart  of  beer,  were  served 
every  day. 

On  the  30th  of  April,  1798,  the  Secretary  of  the 
Navy  was  added  to  the  President's  Cabinet,  Benjamin 
Stoddart,  of  Georgetown,  D.  C.,  being  the  first.  The 
temporary  marine  corps,  hastily  organized  during  the 
Revolution,  became  extinct,  as  did  the  navy,  at  the 
close  of  that  struggle,  but  by  a  law  of  July  11,  1798, 
a  permanent  marine  corps  was  established,  having 
eight  hundred  and  eighty-one  officers,  noncommis 
sioned  officers,  privates  and  musicians,  all  under  the 
command  of  a  major. 

In  November,  1795,  the  signing  of  a  treaty  between 
the  United  States  and  Algiers  obviated  the  immediate 
necessity  of  these  frigates,  but  the  Constitution,  the 
United  States  and  the  Constellation  were  completed, 
the  timber,  and  other  material  for  the  remaining  frig 
ates  being  sold.  Money  and  presents  to  the  amount 
of  a  million  dollars  were  the  price  of  this  treaty,  and 
by  the  last  article  of  it  the  United  States  was  bound 
to  pay  Algiers  an  annual  tribute  of  twelve  thousand 


162  OUTBREAK  OF  THE  WAR  WITH  FRANCE.   1798-1796. 

sequins,  equal  to  about  twenty-two  thousand  dollars. 
Thus  the  dangerous  and  shortsighted  policy  of  leav 
ing  the  nation  without  an  adequate  naval  force  in  time 
of  peace  was  pursued  even  at  this  early  period  of  our 
history.  Hardly  had  peace  with  Algiers  been  con 
cluded  when  trouble  with  France  began.  Taking  ad 
vantage  of  the  unprotected  state  of  our  commerce,  her 
cruisers  and  privateers  not  only  violated  the  neutral 
ity  of  American  waters  by  capturing  British  vessels 
within  the  limits,  but  even  seized  American  merchant 
men  as  lawful  prizes.  On  the  principle,  apparently, 
that  cure  is  better  than  prevention,  Congress,  on  the 
27th  of  April,  1798,  or  less  than  three  years  from  the 
time  it  bought  a  degrading  peace  from  a  semibarbar- 
ous  power,  passed  a  law  authorizing  the  purchase  or 
construction  of  twelve  vessels,  none  of  which  were  to 
rate  over  twenty-two  guns,  and  to  meet  the  expense 
$950,000  were  appropriated.  Thus,  after  paying  out 
a  million  in  tribute — which  alone  would  have  been 
sufficient  to  equip  a  navy  that  could  have  annihilated 
the  marine  forces  of  Algiers1— Congress  was  compelled 
to  double  the  amount  to  meet  this  new  difficulty.  Soon 
afterward  the  President  was  authorized  to  order  the 
construction  of  six  ships  of  the  line. 

Washington  saw  the  necessity  and  economy  of  a 
permanent  naval  establishment,  and  he  repeatedly 
urged  the  subject  upon  Congress.  In  a  speech  be 
fore  both  Houses,  December  7,  1796,  he  said:  "To  an 
active,  external  commerce  the  protection  of  a  naval 
force  is  indispensable."  Not  only  did  Washington 
promulgate  this  doctrine,  but  he  maintained  that  "to 
secure  respect  to  a  neutral  flag  requires  a  naval  force 

1  Richard  O'Brien,  of  the  Dauphin,  said  that  the  Algerian  marine  force 
on  the  12th  of  November,  1793,  consisted  of  four  frigates  carrying  forty- 
four,  thirty-two  and  twenty-four  guns  each  ;  one  polacre  of  eighteen  guns, 
one  brig  of  twenty  guns ;  four  xebecs  of  twenty,  fourteen  and  twelve  guns 
each ;  one  brig  on  the  stocks,  pierced  for  twenty  guns ;  and  sixty  gun 
boats. 


1798.  NECESSITY  OF  A  NAVY.  163 

organized  and  ready  to  vindicate  it  from  insult  or 
aggression."  He  furthermore  advocated  the  u  gradual 
creation"  of  a  navy,  and  said  :  "  Will  it  not  be  advis 
able  to  begin  without  delay  to  provide  and  lay  up  the 
materials  for  the  building  and  equipping  of  ships  of 
war,  and  to  proceed  in  the  work  by  degrees  in  propor 
tion  as  our  resources  shall  render  it  practicable  without 
inconvenience,  so  that  a  future  war  with  Europe  may 
not  find  our  commerce  in  the  same  unprotected  state 
in  which  it  was  found  by  the  present  ? " 

The  population  of  the  United  States  at  this  time 
numbered  nearly  five  millions,  while  the  exports  from 
October  1,  1797,  to  September  30,  1798,  were  valued  at 
$61,527,097,  and  the  imports  at  $63,000,000.  The  total 
tonnage  of  the  merchant  marine  was  nearly  nine  hun 
dred  thousand  tons,  valued  at  $29,397,963.11.  The 
entire  cost  of  the  navy  from  1794  to  1798,  including 
building,  arming,  equipping  and  keeping  the  ships  in 
commission,  was  $2,510,730.69;  and  at  a  moderate  cal 
culation  the  gain  to  American  merchants  in  the  lower 
ing  of  insurance,  caused  by  the  existence  of  this  naval 
force,  for  the  year  1798  alone,  was*  $8,655,566.06  ;  so 
that  the  economists  in  Congress,  whd  had  been  so  loud 
ly  boasting  that  they  had  saved  the  United  States 
Treasury  two  or  three  million  dollars  by  not  establish 
ing  a  navy,  had  in  fact  been  extorting  from  the  people 
many  times  that  amount  in  the  form  of  high  insurance, 
which  the  absence  of  a  naval  force  had  made  necessary, 
besides  paying  several  millions  in1  tribute  to  the  pi 
ratical  states  of  Barbary.  View  it  in  whatever  light 
we  may,  the  expense  of  maintaining  a  respectable  and 
progressive  navy  is  nothing  more^  than  a  safe,  econom 
ical  and  necessary  insurance  on  the  prosperity  of  the 
nation. 

The  depredations  of  French  cruisers  and  privateers 
had  been  so  great  that  on  the  2d  of  March,  1794,  Ed 
mund  Randolph  charged  France  with  flagrant  viola 
tions  of  the  treaty,  and  a  list  of  thirty-eight  American 


164:  OUTBREAK  OF  THE  WAR  WITH   FRANCE.  1798. 

vessels  carried  into  French  ports  by  French  cruisers 
and  privateers  was  given.  It  was  not  until  several 
years  later  that  Congress  gave  up  all  hope  of  adjust 
ing  the  difficulty,  but  on  the  4th  of  May,  1798,  the 
construction  of  galleys  and  several  small  vessels  was 
ordered,  and  on  the  28th  of  the  same  month  our 
cruisers  were  authorized  to  capture  any  French  vessel 
that  might  be  found  near  the  coast  preying  upon 
American  commerce.  On  the  7th  of  July,  1798,  all 
treaties  with  France  were  abrogated,  and  American 
cruisers  were  ordered  to  capture  French  vessels  when 
found  within  the  limits,  and  two  days  afterward  they 
were  permitted  to  attack  them  wherever  found,  while 
the  President  was  authorized  to  issue  commissions  to 
privateers.  On  the  16th  of  July  the  construction  of 
three  more  frigates  was  ordered.  The  navy  immedi 
ately  became  the  favorite  branch  of  the  service,  and  no 
difficulty  was  experienced  in  filling  out  the  comple 
ments,  in  some  instances  the  entire  crew  being  en 
listed  in  a  few  hours.  The  sons  of  leading  families  of 
the  country  eagerly  proffered  their  services  and  were 
enrolled  as  midshipmen,  while  the  merchant  marine 
furnished  a  supply  of  experienced  men  for  commanders 
and  lieutenants.1 

1  According  to  a  report  made  by  the  Secretary  of  the  Navy,  December 
24,  1798,  the  list  of  available  vessels  in  the  American  navy  comprised  the 
44-gun  frigate  Constitution*  the  44-gun  frigate  United  States*  the  36-gun 
frigate  Constellation*  the  24-gun  ship  Portsmouth*  the  18- gun  brig  Nor 
folk*  the  18-gun  brig  Pinckney*  the  14-gun  brig  Eagle*  the  14-gun  brig 
Pickering,*  the  14-gun  schooner  Scammel*  the  14-gun  schooner  Governor 
Jay*  the  14-gun  schooner  Virginia*  the  12-gun  schooner  Diligence*  the 
12-gun schooner  South  Carolina*  the  10-gun  sloop  General  Greene*  the 
24-gun  ship  Ganges,  the  24-gun  ship  George  Washington,  the  24-gun  ship 
Merrimac,  the  20-gun  ship  Baltimore,  the  20-gun  ship  Delaware,  the 
20-gun  ship  Montezuma,  the  18-gun  ship  Herald  and  the  18-gun  brig 
Richmond ;  total,  twenty-two  ships,  mounting  four  hundred  and  fifty-six 
guns,  and  having  a  complement  of  three  thousand  four  hundred  and  eighty- 
four  men. 

These  vessels,  except  those  marked  with  asterisks,  were  merchantmen, 
and  poorly  adapted  for  war  purposes.  The  revenue  vessels  were  brigs  of 


1798.    CHASE  OF  THE  MONTEZUMA  AND  THE  NORFOLK.    165 

A  month  before  hostilities  were  declared  against 
France,  the  Constellation,  Captain  Thomas  Truxtun, 
and  the  Delaware,  Captain  Stephen  Decatur,  Sr.— 
father  of  Stephen  Decatur,  famous  in  the  War  of  1812 
— got  to  sea  for  the  protection  of  the  American  coast 
ing  trade.  When  off  the  Delaware  they  fell  in  with 
the  French  privateer  Croyable,  of  fourteen  guns,  carry 
ing  a  crew  of  fifty-four  men.  Knowing  that  this  vessel 
had  lately  captured  several  American  ships,  Captain 
Decatur  seized  her  and  carried  her  into  Philadelphia, 
where  she  was  refitted  and  taken  into  the  navy  under 
the  name  of  the  Retaliation.  On  the  passage  of  the 
laws  of  July  7  and  9,  1798,  many  of  the  American 
cruisers  hastened  to  sea,  among  them  the  Retaliation, 
now  commanded  by  Lieutenant  William  Bainbridge. 

At  six  o'clock  on  the  morning  of  November  20th 
this  ship,  while  cruising  in  the  vicinity  of  Guadeloupe 
in  company  with  the  Montezuma,  Captain  Alexander 
Murray,  and  the  Norfolk,  Captain  Thomas  Williams, 
discovered  three  sails  to  the  east  -  southeast  and 
shortly  afterward  two  more  to  the  west.  The  Monte 
zuma  and  the  Norfolk  immediately  gave  chase  to  the 
strangers  to  the  west,  while  Lieutenant  Bainbridge  in 
the  Retaliation  was  ordered  to  reconnoiter  the  sup 
posed  English  vessels  to  the  east.  Running  down  to 
them  the  Retaliation  gave  the  private  signal  of  the 
day,  and  was  answered  with  a  flag  at  the  mizzenmast 
which  could  not  be  distinctly  made  out,  but  from  the 
manoeuvres  of  the  stranger  Lieutenant  Bainbridge  was 

one  hundred  and  fifty  to  two  hundred  tons,  carrying  a  crew  of  fifty  to 
seventy  men.  Preble,  afterward  famous  in  the  War  with  Tripoli,  served  in 
one  of  these  vessels.  The  vessels  of  the  Ganges  class  were  old-fashioned 
ships  carrying  long  9-  and  6-pounders ;  the  smaller  craft  carried  lighter 
guns  and  were  deep-waisted.  Besides  this  force  several  ships  of  war  were 
built  by  private  subscription.  Along  the  southern  seaboard  eight  large 
galleys  were  kept  for  coast  defense.  The  Ganges,  Captain  Richard  Dale, 
was  the  first  United  States  man-of-war  to  get  to  sea  under  the  Constitu 
tion.  She  was  ordered  to  cruise  from  the  eastern  end  of  Long  Island  to 
the  Capes  of  Virginia. 


166  OUTBREAK  OF  THE  WAR  WITH  FRANCE.          1798. 

inclined  to  believe  that  they  were  British  cruisers,  as 
the  English  ship  Scourge  had  been  seen  the  day  before 
bearing  down  on  two  vessels  of  similar  appearance.  In 
consequence  of  this  the  strangers  were  allowed  to  ap 
proach  too  near,  and  it  was  not  until  they  were  almost 
within  gunshot  that  Lieutenant  Bainbridge  discovered 
them  to  be  French  frigates,  when  he  immediately 
crowded  all  sail  to  escape,  and  signaled  the  Montezuma 
and  the  Norfolk.  The  leading  French  ship,  the  36-gun 
frigate  Insurgent,  Captain  Barreaut,  proved  a  remark 
ably  fast  sailer  and  soon  compelled  the  Retaliation  to 
strike ;  so  that  although  the  Retaliation  was  the  first 
vessel  taken  from  the  French,  she  was  also  the  first 
captured  from  the  Americans.  The  Insurgent  then 
resumed  her  course  after  the  Montezuma  and  the  Nor 
folk,  while  Lieutenant  Bainbridge  was  taken  aboard 
the  second  French  ship,  the  Volontaire,  Captain  St. 
Laurent.  When  Lieutenant  Bainbridge  presented  his 
sword  to  the  French  commander  the  latter  returned  it, 
remarking:  "You  had,  sir,  no  opportunity  to  defend 
yourself.  I  therefore  beg  you  to  retain  your  sword." 

By  this  time  the  Insurgent  was  far  ahead  in  hot 
pursuit  of  the  Montezuma  and  the  Norfolk  and  was 
fast  overhauling  them.  The  Volontaire,  having  put  a 
prize  crew  aboard  the  Retaliation,  made  sail  after  her 
consort,  then  far  to  the  east.  Lieutenant  Bainbridge 
joined  the  group  of  French  officers  watching  the  chase 
from  the  forecastle  of  the  Volontaire,  and,  just  as  they 
were  expecting  to  see  the  Insurgent  open  fire  on  the 
American  ships,  Captain  St.  Laurent  abruptly  turned  to 
Lieutenant  Bainbridge  and  inquired  the  force  of  the 
two  ships  the  Insurgent  was  pursuing.  With  great 
presence  of  mind  the  American  officer  replied,  u  The 
ship  has  twenty-eight  12-pounders,  and  the  brig  twenty 
9-pounders,"  which  was  double  their  actual  force,  and 
would  have  rendered  them  too  formidable  for  the  In 
surgent  alone  to  attack.  Greatly  alarmed  at  the  unex 
pected  force  of  the  chase,  Captain  St.  Laurent  directed 


1798.     CHASE  OF  THE  MONTEZUMA  AND  THE  NORFOLK.  167 

his  signal  officer  to  recall  the  Insurgent.  On  coming 
within  hall  Captain  Barreaut  stepped  to  the  gangway 
to  hail  his  senior  officer,  and  said,  "Had  you  not  sig 
naled  me,  sir,  I  would  have  captured  those  ships  in  ten 
minutes." 

"Citizen  captain,"  replied  Captain  St.  Laurent, 
* '  the  Insurgent  was  not  heavy  enough  to  attack  the 
ships  you  were  chasing.  They  were  armed  with  12- 
and  9-pounders."  Captain  Barreaut  answered  with 
considerable  excitement  that  there  was  not  a  gun  in 
either  vessel  heavier  than  a  6-pounder.  On  hearing 
this  Captain  St.  Laurent  turned  upon  Lieutenant 
Bainbridge  and  said  severely,  "Did  you  not  say,  sir, 
that  the  force  of  those  vessels  was  such  as  I  have 
stated  \ "  The  American  officer  as  sternly  replied  that 
if  he  could  save  the  ships  of  his  Government  by  mis 
representing  their  strength  he  felt  justified  in  doing  so. 
The  ruse  gave  rise-  to  much  ill-concealed  vexation 
among  the  French  officers,  but  both  Captain  St.  Lau 
rent  and  Captain  Barreaut  continued  to  treat  Lieuten 
ant  Bainbridge  with  all  due  courtesy. 

Perhaps  no  one  was  more  surprised  at  the  sudden 
abandonment  of  the  chase  than  were  Captain  Murray 
and  Captain  Williams,  of  the  Montezuma  and  the  Nor 
folk,  for  they  had  given  over  all  hopes  of  eluding  their 
swift  and  powerful  foe  ;  but  when  the  Insurgent  turned 
back  they  made  the  best  of  the  opportunity,  so  that 
by  the  time  the  French  commanders  were  comparing 
notes  the  American  ships  were  not  in  sight.  The 
Montezuma  continued  her  cruise  in  the  West  Indies 
until  October,  1799,  when  she  returned  to  port  to  refit. 
The  Volontaire  and  the  Insurgent  continued  on  their 
course,  and  on  the  following  day  they  reached  Guade 
loupe  with  their  prize,  where  the  American  prisoners 
were  landed. 

The  unsettled  condition  of  political  affairs  in  the 
West  Indies  at  this  time  is  shown  by  the  treatment 
Lieutenant  Bainbridge  and  his  men  received  on  their 


168  OUTBREAK  OF  THE  WAR  WITH  FRANCE.          1798. 

arrival  at  Basse  Terre.  General  Desf  ourneaux,  governor 
of  the  island,  who  was  described  as  a  man  of  "  fine  tal 
ents,  courtly  manners  and  insinuating  address,"  after 
expressing  great  friendship  for  Lieutenant  Bainbridge, 
intimated  that  "much  individual  advantage"  might 
result  if  the  island  of  Guadeloupe  were  considered 
neutral  in  the  war,  and  he  suggested  that  Lieutenant 
Bainbridge  should  lend  his  influence  to  secure  this 
end.  The  American  officer  indignantly  refused  to  en 
ter  into  such  a  scheme,  upon  which  the  Americans 
were  treated  with  great  brutality  and  reduced  almost 
to  starvation.  General  Desfourneaux  said  this  treat 
ment  was  due  to  the  orders  of  the  notorious  Victor 
Hughes,  the  deposed  governor  of  the  island,  and  that 
no  change  could  be  made  until  he  had  left  the  port. 
In  a  few  days  the  disgraced  governor  was  sent  aboard 
the  Volontaire  as  a  national  prisoner,  and  the  Ameri 
cans  anticipated  better  treatment,  but  instead  of  this 
they  were  subjected  to  even  greater  cruelty  than  be 
fore.  Lieutenant  Bainbridge  informed  General  Des 
fourneaux  that  the  seamen  were  nearly  in  a  state  of 
starvation  ;  that  among  them  were  a  number  of  highly 
respectable  masters  of  vessels,  and  that  they  were 
almost  daily  insulted,  beaten  and  confined  in  a  dun 
geon  by  a  drunken  and  brutal  jailer.  But  the  remon 
strance  proved  of  no  avail. 

On  Christmas  night,  when  a  few  of  the  seamen 
were  amusing  themselves  with  songs,  dancing  and  a 
rude  theatrical  performance,  in  celebration  of  the  day 
and  as  a  means  of  relieving  the  monotony  of  their 
imprisonment,  the  jailer  and  his  assistants  rushed  into 
the  apartment,  and  seizing  twelve  of  the  prisoners 
from  their  hammocks  while  they  were  still  undressed, 
threw  them  into  a  damp  dungeon  which  had  only  a 
small  opening  at  the  top  for  the  admission  of  light 
and  air.  After  much  importunity  Lieutenant  Bain 
bridge  was  allowed  to  visit  the  dungeon,  and  found 
his  countrymen  in  the  cold  place  nearly  naked,  with 


1798.  IN  THE  DUNGEONS  OF  GUADELOUPE. 

nothing  to  eat  except  a  little  raw  salt  beef,  and  noth 
ing  to  interpose  between  their  bodies  and  the  muddy 
ground,  the  jailer  refusing  even  to  give  them  their 
clothes. 

A  few  days  after  this  the  French  frigate  Ponsea 
arrived  at  Guadeloupe  having  twenty  to  thirty  Ameri 
can  prisoners  aboard,  taken  by  French  privateers,  and 
they  had  been  compelled  to  act  as  a  part  of  the 
frigate's  crew.  Lieutenant  Bainbridge  requested  that 
they  be  landed  as  prisoners  of  war,  for  in  their  present 
position  they  might  be  compelled  to  fight  against  their 
flag.  The  wily  governor  immediately  saw  his  oppor 
tunity,  and  again  suggested  that  this  might  be  done 
provided  the  American  officers  conformed  to  his  wishes 
in  the  matter  of  making  Guadeloupe  neutral  ;  but  as 
Lieutenant  Bainbridge  still  refused,  the  Ponsea  sailed 
for  France  two  days  afterward  with  her  prisoners. 

Not  long  after  this  the  governor  again  endeavored 
to  bring  the  Americans  to  terms.  He  sent  a  courteous 
message  to  Lieutenant  Bainbridge  offering  to  restore 
the  Retaliation  and  release  all  citizens  of  the  United 
States  on  the  island  if  his  trade  with  the  United  States 
was  unmolested.  As  Lieutenant  Bainbridge  refused 
to  accede  to  these  terms  the  governor  threatened  to 
put  him  in  irons  ;  but  a  few  days  afterward,  finding  it 
impossible  to  coerce  the  Americans,  he  released  them, 
and  using  the  Retaliation  as  a  cartel  sent  three  hun 
dred  of  them  to  the  United  States.  He  forwarded  a 
dispatch  by  Lieutenant  Bainbridge  to  the  President  of 
the  United  States,  demanding  the  neutrality  of  Guade 
loupe  and  free  commerce  with  the  United  States ;  and 
he  threatened,  if  this  were  not  granted,  to  put  to  death 
every  American  prisoner  who  afterward  fell  into  his 
hands. 

In  the  middle  of  July  the  United  States,  Captain 

John  Barry,  having  in  company  the  Delaware,  Captain 

Stephen  Decatur,  Sr.,  got  to  sea  with  instructions  to 

cruise  off  Cape  Cod,  where  it  was  intended  to  have  the 

14 


170  OUTBREAK  OF  THE  WAR  WITH  FRANCE.          1798. 

Herald,  Captain  James  Sever,  meet  him.  The  United 
States  on  this  cruise  carried  many  officers  who  after 
ward  became  distinguished.  They  were  :  David  Ross, 
first  lieutenant ;  Mr.  Mullany,  second  lieutenant ;  James 
Barron,  third  lieutenant ;  Charles  Stewart,  fourth  lieu 
tenant.  Among  the  midshipmen  were  Richard  Somers, 
Stephen  Decatur,  Jr.,  James  R.  Caldwell,  Jacob  Jones 
and  William  Montgomery  Crane. 

On  his  way  to  Cape  Cod  Captain  Barry  discovered 
a  heavy  frigate  sailing  under  French  colors,  and  he 
immediately  displayed  the  same  flag,  and  signaled  the 
Delaware  to  haul  off  so  that  he  could  engage  the  ene 
my  single-handed.  The  stranger  made  every  prepara 
tion  to  meet  the  American  ship,  and  tried  to  gain  the 
weather  gauge.  In  this  the  commanders  displayed 
great  skill,  but  after  manoeuvring  a  long  time  the 
United  States  secured  the  vantage  point  and  closed  on 
the  enemy  ;  but  just  as  she  was  about  to  open  fire  the 
stranger  showed  English  colors,  and  hailed  that  she 
was  the  British  50-gun  ship  Thetis.  In  order  to  avoid 
a  repetition  of  what  nearly  proved  to  be  a  serious  mis 
take,  Admiral  Vandeport  proposed  a  set  of  signals  by 
which  American  and  British  cruisers  could  know  each 
other.  The  code  was  accepted  and  was  used  for  many 
years.  Soon  afterward  the  French  privateers  Sans 
Pareil,  of  sixteen  guns  and  eighty-seven  men,  and 
Jaloux,  of  fourteen  guns  and  seventy  men,  were  cap 
tured  by  the  United  States  and  the  Delaware.  Subse 
quently,  while  cruising  alone,  the  Delaware  took  the 
Marsouin,  of  ten  guns. 

On  the  10th  of  the  following  August  the  Constel 
lation,  Captain  Thomas  Truxtun,  and  the  Baltimore, 
Captain  Isaac  Phillips,  sailed  for  Havana,  where  a  fleet 
of  sixty  American  merchant  ships  was  awaiting  convoy. 
Several  French  cruisers  also  were  lying  in  port  ready  to 
attack  the  fleet  as  soon  as  it  cleared  the  land,  but  the 
presence  of  the  American  men  of  war  prevented  trouble, 
and  the  ships  arrived  at  their  destination  in  safety. 


1798.  OUTRAGE  ON  THE  BALTIMORE. 

While  the  Baltimore  was  engaged  in  this  service 
an  incident  occurred  which  created  great  excitement  in 
the  United  States,  and  did  much  toward  opening  the 
eyes  of  the  people  to  the  necessity  of  maintaining  a 
permanent  and  efficient  marine  force.  Although  Great 
Britain  at  this  time  was  also  carrying  on  an  active  war 
against  France,  her  cruisers  in  several  instances  perpe 
trated  outrages  on  American  seamen  and  on  the  Ameri 
can  flag.  On  the  16th  of  November,  while  convoying 
merchant  vessels  from  Charleston  to  Havana,  the  Balti 
more  fell  in  with  a  British  squadron  under  the  com 
mand  of  Captain  Loring,  consisting  of  the  74-gun  ship 
of  the  line  Carnatie,  flagship  ;  the  98-gun  ship  of  the 
line  Queen,  Captain  Dobson  ;  the  74-gun  ship  of  the 
line  Thunderer  ;  the  32-gun  frigate  Maidstone  ;  and  the 
32-gun  frigate  Grayhound,  Captain  Hardy.  As  soon 
as  the  British  vessels  were  made  out  Captain  Phillips, 
distrusting  their  respect  for  the  rights  of  the  American 
vessels  on  the  high  seas,  signaled  his  convoy  to  make 
all  sail  before  the  wind  while  he  ran  down  to  recon- 
noiter. 

On  going  aboard  the  Carnatie  Captain  Phillips  was 
informed  that  every  man  in  the  Baltimore  not  provided 
with  an  American  "protection"  would  be  impressed. 
Captain  Phillips  protested  against  this,  and  avowed  his 
determination  to  surrender  his  ship  before  he  would 
countenance  such  a  measure,  but  on  returning  to  the 
Baltimore  he  found  a  British  lieutenant  in  the  act  of 
mustering  the  crew.  Taking  the  roll  from  that  officer's 
hands  he  ordered  him  to  the  lee  side,  and  then  sent 
the  men  to  their  quarters.  But  in  the  presence  of 
such  a  squadron  the  Baltimore  was  powerless,  and 
Captain  Phillips  was  compelled  to  surrender  the  muster 
roll  and  call  up  all  hands  for  inspection.  Fifty-five 
men  were  selected  and  taken  aboard  the  Carnatie,  fifty 
of  whom,  however,  were  returned.  Having  in  the 
mean  time  seized  three  vessels  of  the  American  convoy, 
under  his  own  interpretation  of  the  rules  of  blockade, 


172  OUTBREAK  OF  THE   WAR  WITH  FRANCE.  1799. 

Captain  Loring  sailed  for  Havana,  after  acknowledging 
that  he  had  a  number  of  Americans  in  his  crew.  The 
three  merchantmen,  after  a  vexatious  and  unnecessary 
delay,  were  released  and  proceeded  on  their  voyage. 
Captain  Phillips,  on  the  10th  of  January,  1799,  was  dis 
missed  from  the  service,  and  his  course  of  nonresist- 
ance  was  pronounced  most  culpable.1 

1  Secretary  of  the  Navy  to  Captain  Phillips,  January  10,  1799. 


CHAPTER  II. 

A  VIGOEOUS   NAVAL   WAR  AGAINST   FEANCE. 

THE  War  with  France  afforded  the  first  opportu 
nity  to  test  the  new  American  frigates,  which,  by  com 
bining  heavy  armaments  with  great  speed,  were  de 
signed  to  be  superior  to  any  ship  of  the  same  class 
afloat.  Their  arrival  in  the  West  Indies  was  awaited 
with  much  curiosity  and  with  not  a  little  covert  merri 
ment  by  the  English  and  French  officers  on  that  sta 
tion.  The  English  were  especially  emphatic  in  their 
predictions  of  the  failure  of  the  "  monstrous  and  pre 
posterous  "  armaments  carried  in  these  ships,  and  many 
a  messroom  rang  with  laughter  over  the  imaginary 
mishaps  that  would  befall  the  presumptuous  attempts 
at  naval  architecture  by  "  rebel  subjects,"  as  the 
Americans  were  still  graciously  called  by  their  friends 
the  English.  The  result  of  several  actions  between 
American  and  French  cruisers  did  much  toward  chang 
ing  the  tune  of  their  laughter,  but  British  officers  were 
not  yet  satisfied,  and,  wishing  to  know  if  Yankee-built 
frigates  really  could  sail  with  any  respectable  speed, 
the  commander  of  an  English  cruiser,  while  on  block 
ade  duty  on  the  St.  Domingo  station,  challenged  Cap 
tain  Silas  Talbot,  of  the  Constitution,  to  an  all- day 
race,  wagering  a  cask  of  wine  on  the  result.  The 
younger  American  officers  were  immediately  on  their 
mettle,  especially  as  the  British  ship  had  the  reputa 
tion  of  being  one  of  the  best  sailers  in  the  West  Indies, 
and  they  begged  Captain  Talbot  to  accept  the  challenge, 
and,  as  making  an  agreeable  break  in  the  monotony  of 
the  cruise,  the  American  commander  consented. 

(173) 


A  VIGOROUS  NAVAL  WAR  AGAINST  FRANCE.      1799. 


Isaac  Hull  at  this  time  was  first  lieutenant  in  the 
Constitution  and  had  the  reputation  of  being  one  of 
the  most  skillful  navigators  of  his  day,  and,  as  Farra- 
gut  in  later  years  remarked,  "he  was  as  able  a  seaman 
as  ever  sailed  a  ship."  The  race  began  at  daybreak 
and  lasted  until  the  sun  went  down,  and  Lieutenant 
Hull  kept  all  hands  constantly  on  deck,  not  even 
allowing  them  time  to  go  below  for  mess.  The  Consti 
tution  had  it  all  her  own  way  from  the  start,  and  just 
as  the  sun  was  disappearing  below  the  horizon  she 
fired  her  evening  gun,  the  signal  that  the  race  was 
ended,  and  hove  to,  waiting  for  the  Englishman  to 
come  up.  When  within  hail  the  British  commander 


V ^       C3L-^°      <{>8T.KI 


WINDWARD 

* 


TOBAGO^ 


Scene  of  the  naval  operations  in  the 
'West  Indies  in  1799. 


handsomely  acknowledged 
his  defeat,  and,  promptly 
lowering  his  gig,  sent  the 
cask  of  wine  aboard  the 
Constitution.  Had  this  cap 
tain  lived  sixteen  years  longer,  the  mortification  of 
his  defeat  would  have  been  considerably  diminished 
by  learning  that  eighteen  British  frigates  and  several 
ships  of  the  line  subsequently  endeavored  to  overtake 
the  Constitution  with  a  similar  want  of  success. 

French  privateers  by  this  time  had  become  so  nu 
merous  and  daring  in  the  West  Indies  that  the  Govern 
ment  found  it  necessary  to  direct  all  its  naval  force 
against  them.  Accordingly,  a  squadron  commanded 
by  Captain  John  Barry  was  ordered  to  rendezvous  at 


1799.  MANY  FRENCH   PRIVATEERS  CAPTURED.  175 

Prince  Rupert's  Bay,  and  to  cruise  to  windward  of  St. 
Kitts  and  as  far  south  as  Barbadoes  and  Tobago.  It 
consisted  of  the  following  vessels  :  The  United  States, 
Captain  John  Barry  ;  the  Constitution,  Captain  Samuel 
Nicholson  ;  the  George  Washington,  Captain  Patrick 
Fletcher  ;  the  Merrimac,  Captain  Moses  Brown  ;  the 
Portsmouth,  Captain  Daniel  McNiell ;  the  Pickering, 
Master-Commandant  Edward  Preble  ;  the  Eagle,  Lieu 
tenant  Hugh  George  Campbell ;  the  Herald,  Lieuten 
ant  Charles  C.  Russell  ;  the  Scammel,  Lieutenant  J. 
Adams  ;  and  the  Diligence,  Lieutenant  J.  Brown.  The 
Merrimac  took  le  Bonaparte,  le  Phenix,  of  fourteen 
guns  and  one  hundred  and  twenty-eight  men,  and  la 
Magicienne,  of  fourteen  guns  and  sixty- three  men ; 
the  Portsmouth  took  le  Bonaparte  (No.  2),  la  Bril- 
lante,  le  Fripon  and  le  Bon  Pere,  of  six  guns  and  fifty- 
two  men.  Seven  other  captures  were  made  by  this 
squadron. 

On  the  3d  of  February,  while  the  United  States 
was  cruising  to  windward  of  Martinique,  chase  was 
given  to  a  suspicious  sail.  As  there  was  a  fresh  breeze 
at  the  time  the  American  frigate  soon  had  the  stranger, 
which  proved  to  be  a  French  privateer,  under  her 
guns.  Finding  that  he  was  outsailed  on  this  point,  the 
Frenchman,  as  a  last  hope,  went  about  and  boldly 
endeavored  to  turn  to  windward  by  short  tacks,  under 
the  guns  of  the  frigate.  A  single  well-aimed  24-pound 
shot  from  the  United  States  cut  the  career  of  the 
privateer  short,  for  the  ball  went  through  her  hull 
between  wind  and  water,  so  that  she  quickly  began  to 
fill  and  settle.  The  sudden  lowering  of  her  sails,  the 
confusion  aboard  her  and  the  cries  of  her  people  for 
aid,  told  plainly  enough  that  one  shot  was  sufficient. 
The  United  States  promptly  hove  to  and  lowered  her 
boats  to  the  rescue.  Midshipman  Stephen  Decatur  was 
in  the  boat  that  first  reached  the  wreck,  and  he  found 
her  crew  collected  on  her  rails,  stripped  of  their  plun 
der  and  clothes,  ready  to  swim  to  the  boats.  "They 


176       A  VIGOROUS  NAVAL  WAR  AGAINST  FRANCE.      1799. 

were  plaintively  imploring  for  help,"  wrote  an  eyewit 
ness,  "  with  earnest  gesticulations,  not  only  from  men 
but  from  God,  and  although  it  is  true  they  had  abol 
ished  all  religion,  they  had  not,  it  seemed,  forgot  the 
old  way  of  invoking  the  protection  of  the  Omnipotent." 
Seeing  that  the  boats  would  be  swamped  if  they  came 
within  reach  of  the  frantic  privateersmen,  the  Ameri 
can  officer  in  charge  ordered  the  Frenchmen  to  put 
their  helm  up  and  run  down  to  the  frigate.  This  was 
done  at  once,  and  the  privateer,  which  was  the  Amour 
de  la  Patrie,  of  six  guns  and  eighty  men,  sank  near 
the  United  States  ;  her  men  jumped  clear  of  her,  other 
boats  were  lowered,  and  all  were  saved.  The  United 
States  also  took  the  privateer  Tartufe,  of  eight  guns 
and  sixty  men. 

Desiring  to  relieve  himself  of  his  prisoners,  and 
hoping  to  liberate  an  equal  number  of  Americans  who 
were  confined  in  the  loathsome  dungeons  at  Guade 
loupe,  Captain  Barry  put  into  the  roads  of  Basse 
Terre  with  the  white  flag  of  truce  at  his  fore,  but  when 
within  effective  range  the  French  batteries  opened  on 
her.  Quickly  hauling  down  the  white  flag,  Captain 
Barry  sailed  around  the  harbor  and  returned  the  fire 
so  effectively  that  the  walls  of  the  batteries  bore  the 
marks  of  American  shot  for  many  years  afterward. 

A  second  squadron,  under  Captain  Thomas  Trux- 
tun,  which  cruised  in  the  vicinity  of  Porto  Rico,  St. 
Martins  and  the  Virgin  Gorda,  consisted  of  the  Con 
stellation,  Captain  Thomas  Truxtun;  the  Baltimore, 
Captain  Isaac  Phillips  ;  the  Norfolk,  Captain  Thomas 
Williams  ;  the  Richmond,  Captain  Samuel  Barron  ;  and 
the  Virginia,  Captain  Francis  Bright.  These  ships 
captured  nine  privateers,  carrying  in  all  forty  guns. 
A  third  squadron,  under  Captain  Thomas  Tingey,  con 
sisting  of  the  Ganges,  Captain  Thomas  Tingey,  the 
Pinckney,  Lieutenant  Samuel  Heywood,  and  the 
South  Carolina,  Lieutenant  J.  Payne,  was  stationed 
between  Cuba  and  Hayti,  and  captured  six  privateers, 


1799.          THE  CONSTELLATION-INSURGENT  ACTION.  177 

the  Ganges  taking  le  Vainqueur,  T Eugene  and  TEspe- 
rance.  The  Delaware,  Captain  Stephen  Decatur,  Sr., 
and  the  revenue  cutters  Governor  Jay,  Lieutenant 
George  Price,  and  General  Greene,  Lieutenant  J.  W. 
Leonard,  cruised  near  Havana.  By  this  distribution 
of  the  naval  force  over  sixty  privateers  were  seized, 
while  many  picaroons,  who  were  in  the  habit  of 
attacking  becalmed  merchant  ships  near  shore,  were 
severely  punished. 

While  cruising  off  Cape  Mcolas  Mole  the  Ganges 
was  boarded  by  a  boat  from  the  British  cruiser  Sur 
prise  for  the  purpose  of  impressing  all  seamen  who 
happened  to  be  without  American  "  protection  "  papers. 
Captain  Tingey  refused  to  have  his  ship  searched,  and 
said  :  "  A  public  ship  carries  no  protection  for  her  men 
but  her  flag.  I  do  not  expect  to  succeed  in  the  action 
with  you,  but  I  will  die  at  my  quarters  before  a  man 
shall  be  taken  from  the  ship."  The  crew  was  then 
sent  to  quarters  and  the  guns  manned  to  the  tune  of 
''Yankee  Doodle."  Perceiving  the  determination  of 
the  Americans,  the  British  commander  sailed  without 
attempting  to  seize  any  of  the  crew. 

At  half  past  twelve  on  the  9th  of  February  the 
Constellation,  Captain  Truxtun,  while  cruising  near 
St.  Kitts,  discovered  a  sail  to  the  south-southeast,  the 
Island  of  Nevis  bearing  fifteen  miles  west  by  south. 
The  frigate  was  put  before  the  wind,  which  was  fresh 
from  the  north-northeast,  so  as  to  cross  the  stranger's 
course,  and  at  1  P.  M.  the  chase  was  standing  close- 
hauled  on  the  port  tack.  Half  an  hour  later  a  squall 
necessitated  shortening  of  sail,  and  for  a  few  minutes 
the  vessels  were  shut  out  of  view,  but  when  the  weather 
cleared  up  it  was  seen  that  the  stranger  had  lost  her 
main-topmast,  and  had  changed  her  course  to  "north 
west,  one  quarter  north,"  with  a  view  of  running  into  St. 
Eustatius.  Soon  afterward  she  hoisted  an  American 
flag,  upon  which  Captain  Truxtun  showed  his  colors 
and  gave  the  private  signal  of  the  day,  and  also  the 


178       A  VIGOROUS  NAVAL   WAR  AGAINST  FRANCE.      1799. 

signal  agreed  upon  by  American  and  British  command 
ers.  As  the  chase  did  not  answer,  there  was  no  doubt 
of  his  nationality.  Presently  he  hoisted  French  colors, 
fired  a  gun  to  leeward  in  "  confirmation,"  and  headed 
to  the  southeast,  the  Constellation  rapidly  coming  up 
with  him. 

The  first  division  of  the  gun  deck  of  the  Constella 
tion,  at  this  time  consisting  of  five  guns  on  each  side, 
was  commanded  by  First-Lieutenant  John  Rodgers 
(afterward  famous  in  the  War  of  1812) ;  the  second 
division  of  five  guns  on  each  side  was  commanded  by 
Second-Lieutenant  William  Cowper ;  and  the  third  di 
vision  of  four  guns  on  each  side  by  Third-Lieutenant 
Andrew  Sterett.  Fourth-Lieutenant  John  Archer  was 
stationed  on  the  quarter-deck. 

About  3.15  P.  M.,  when  within  pistol  shot,  the  French 
man  hailed  but  Captain  Truxtun  did  not  answer.  The 
chase  hailed  again,  when  the  Constellation,  having 
gained  a  position  off  her  port  quarter,  poured  in  a  full 
broadside.  This  was  promptly  returned,  and  the  firing 
became  steady.  After  the  first  broadside  the  enemy 
luffed  up  to  run  aboard,  but  owing  to  the  loss  of  his 
main-topmast  he  was  not  quick  enough,  so  that  the 
Constellation,  forging  ahead,  ran  across  his  course  and 
raked.  Captain  Truxtun  then  passed  along  the  enemy's 
starboard  side,  and  having  received  no  material  damage 
in  his  spars  or  rigging  he  was  able  to  keep  his  ship 
off  the  Frenchman's  starboard  bow,  in  a  position  which 
he  maintained  fully  an  hour,  pouring  in  and  receiving 
broadsides.  During  this  time  an  18-pound  shot  struck 
the  Constellation's  fore-topmast  just  above  the  cap, 
and  so  weakened  it  that  it  tottered,  and  was  in  immi 
nent  danger  of  giving  way  under  the  press  of  sail. 
Midshipman  David  Porter  (afterward  captain)  who  was 
stationed  in  the  foretop,  hailed  the  deck,  giving  notice 
of  the  danger,  but  in  the  excitement  and  uproar  of 
battle  no  order  was  sent  up.  Seeing  the  urgency  of 
the  occasion,  young  Porter,  with  great  judgment  and 


1799.         THE  CONSTELLATION-INSURGENT  ACTION. 


179 


presence  of  mind,  went  aloft,  cut  the  stoppers  and 
lowered  the  yard,  thus  relieving  the  mast  of  the  press 
ure  of  sail  and  preventing  a  serious  mishap. 

The  Constellation  now  drew  out  of  the  smoke  which 
had  gathered  around  the  two  ships,  and  running  across 
the  enemy's  course  poured  in  a  second  raking  broad 
side.  Then  ranging  alongside  the  Frenchman's  port 
bow  she  opened  a  heavy  fire  from  her  starboard  battery, 
which  soon  dismounted  every^  18-pounder  on  the  ene 
my's  main  deck,  leaving  him  with  only  his  battery  of  12- 
pounders.1  About  4. 30  p.  M.,  the  Constellation  dropped 
astern,  crossed  the  enemy's  wake  and  was  about  to 
rake  for  the  third  time,  when  the  Frenchman  struck. 


Diagram  of  the  battle.     C,  Constellation. 

A  boat  was  immediately  sent  aboard  the  prize,  which 
soon  returned  with  Captain  Barreaut  and  the  first  lieu 
tenant  of  the  French  36-gun  frigate  Insurgent,  the 
same  that  in  the  preceding  year  had  chased  the  Monte- 
zuma  and  the  Norfolk. 

There  has  been  much  error  among  naval  writers 
concerning  the  Insurgents  armament.  Cooper  merely 
says  that  it  consisted  of  forty  guns,  her  main  deck  bat 
tery  being  French  twelves.  James,  an  English  naval 
historian,  in  his  estimate,  gives  the  Insurgent  twenty- 
six  long  18-pounders  on  the  main  deck,  while  Troude, 
a  French  naval  historian,  gives  her  12-pounders  instead 
of  18-pounders  on  the  main  deck.2  On  the  other  hand, 


1  Official  report  of  the  French  commander. 

2  Batailles  Navales  de  la  France,  tome  iii,  p.  1G9. 


180        A  VIGOROUS  NAVAL  WAR  AGAINST  FRANCE.      1799. 

Troude  gives  the  Constellation  twenty-eight  12-pound- 
ers  on  the  main  deck,  whereas  she  carried  24-pounders. 
James,  moreover,  says,  "The  nature  of  V Insurgent's 
guns  nowhere  appears." 

These  conflicting  statements  rise  from  lack  of  infor 
mation  on  the  subject,  and  the  impossibility  at  that 
time  of  getting  at  the  official  report  of  the  French 
commander.  Through  the  courtesy  of  Admiral  Aube, 
of  the  French  navy,  late  Minister  of  Marine,  the  author 
was  permitted  to  search  the  archives  of  the  Depart 
ment  of  the  Marine  and  Colonies  at  Paris,  and  there 
found  the  official  reports  of  the  French  commanders 
concerned  in  our  war  with  France — 1798-1801.  The  re 
port  of  Captain  Barreaut  throws  much  light  on  this  ac 
tion,  and  determines  the  Insurgent's  armament,  which 
up  to  this  time  has  been  in  doubt.  This  report  de 
scribes  the  Constellation's  main  deck  guns  as  24-pound- 
ers,  or  twice  the  weight  Troude  gives  her.  From  Cap 
tain  Barreaut's  report  it  is  seen  that  the  Insurgent  car 
ried  18-pounders  on  the  main  deck:  "  J'etais  dans  un 
grand  embarras,  vos  ordres  etaient  de  ne  tirer  sur  le 
pavilion  americain,  une  fregate  anglaise  pouvait  Men 
s'en  servir  pour  eviter  nos  coups  de  canon  de  18  en 
retraite  qui  1'eurent  beaucoup  endommage  pendant  1 
heure  -J  et  m'eut  donne  le  temps  de  me  sauver."1  Here 
we  see  that  Captain  Barreaut  speaks  of  his  c '  canon  de 
18,"  and  in  the  same  report  he  mentions  his  "  canons 
de  18,"  leaving  no  doubt  as  to  the  plural  number.  He 
mentions  his  18-pounders  in  three  separate  places. 
This,  together  with  the  fact  that  an  18-pound  shot 
struck  the  Constellation's  fore-topmast  in  the  action, 
proves  that  she  carried  a  battery  of  18-pounders. 
Again  Captain  Barreaut  says:  "After  two  hours  of 
battle,  totally  unrigged,  the  frigate  like  a  hulk,  having 
for  all  defense  one  battery  of  12-pounders,"  etc.2  This 

1  Official  report  of  Captain  Barreaut. 

2  "  Deux  heures   de   combat,  totalement  degre,  la  fregate  comrae  un 
ponton  ayant  pour  toute  defense  une  batterie  de  12." 


1799.         THE  CONSTELLATION-INSURGENT  ACTION. 

shows  that  the  Insurgent  also  had  a  battery  of  12- 
pounders.  In  no  portion  of  his  long  report  of  this 
action  does  Captain  Barreaut  mention,  or  in  any  way 
intimate,  that  his  ship  carried  other  than  18-  and  12- 
pounders. 

All  authorities  agree  that  the  Insurgent  carried 
forty  guns  ; *  which,  as  the  rating  of  French  frigates 
was  peculiarly  regular,  places  her  as  a  36-gun  frigate. 
The  French  36-gun  frigate  carried  twenty-six  long  guns 
on  the  main  deck,  ten  long  guns  on  the  quarter-deck  and 
forecastle,  and  four  36-pound  carronades  on  the  quarter 
deck  and  forecastle,  in  all  forty  guns.  According  to 
Troude  : 2  u  U "Insurgent e  portait  vingt-six  canons  de 
12,  portait  dix  canons  de  6  et  quatre  carronades  de  36." 
We  have  seen  that  Captain  Barreaut  admits  having  a 
battery  of  18-pounders  and  one  of  12-pounders,  but  no 
where  does  he  mention  6-pounders.  There  can  be  no 
doubt,  then,  that  the  Insurgent  carried  twenty -six 
long  18-pounders  on  the  main  deck,  ten  long  12-pound 
ers  on  the  quarter-deck  and  forecastle,  and  four  short 
36-pounders,  which  were  carried  in  all  French  frigates 
of  that  class.  The  Constellation  mounted  twenty-eight 
long  24-pounders  on  the  main  deck  and  twenty  long 
12-pounders  on  the  quarter-deck  and  forecastle;  car 
ronades  had  not  as  yet  been  introduced  in  our  navy. 
Her  crew  numbered  three  hundred  and  nine,  of  whom 
one  was  killed  by  the  officer  commanding  the  third 
division  of  the  gun  deck,  Third-Lieutenant  Andrew 
Sterett,  for  deserting  his  gun  early  in  the  action,  and 
three  were  wrounded,  among  the  latter  being  Midship 
man  James  Macdonough,  who  lost  a  foot. 

Neither  Captain  Barreaut  in  his  official  report  nor 
Troude  makes  any  statement  regarding  the  Insurgent's 
complement.  Captain  Truxtun,  in  his  official  report, 
says  the  French  frigate  carried  a  crew  of  four  hundred 

1  Official  report  of  Captain  Truxtun ;  Cooper's  Naval  History,  vol.  ii, 
p.  169 ;  Troude,  tome  iii,  p.  169 ;  James'  Naval  Occurrences,  p.  63,  etc. 

2  Batailles  Navales  de  la  France,  tome  iii,  p.  169. 


182       A  VIGOROUS  NAVAL  WAR  AGAINST  FRANCE.      xT99. 

and  nine  men,  of  whoni  twenty-nine  were  killed,  twenty- 
two  badly  wounded  and  nineteen  slightly  wounded. 
Captain  Barreaut  in  reference  to  his  losses  merely  re 
marks  :  '"About  fifty  killed  or  wounded."  As  he  was 
immediately  taken  aboard  the  Constellation  and  had 
no  opportunity  to  compute  his  losses  accurately,  it  is 
probable  that  the  minute  report  of  Captain  Truxtun  is 
correct.  Allowing  for  the  deficiency  of  American  metal 
in  weight,  we  find  that  the  total  weight  of  the  Constella 
tion "  s  shot  was  eight  hundred  and  forty-eight  pounds. 
A  French  pound  was  eight  per  cent  heavier  than  an 
English  pound ;  for  example,  a  French  12-pound  shot 
weighed  thirteen  English  pounds,  and  a  24-pound 
French  shot  weighed  twenty-six  English  pounds.  Cal 
culating  on  this  basis,  we  find  the  Insurgents  total 
weight  of  metal  to  be  seven  hundred  and  ninety-one 
English  pounds. 


Comparative  force  and  loss. 

Guns.        Lbs.        Crew.    Killed.  Wounded.  Total. 

Constellation:  48       848        309        2             3  5    )      Time 

Insurgent:         40       791        409       29           41  70    flh.  14m. 


Captain  Barreaut  made  a  noble  defense,  but  the 
misfortune  of  losing  his  main-topmast  at  a  critical 
moment  placed  him  at  disadvantage.  Captain  Trux 
tun  in  his  official  report  says  :  "I  must  not  omit  to 
do  justice  to  Monsieur  Barreaut,  for  he  defended  his 
ship  manfully,  and  from  my  raking  him  several  times 
fore  and  aft,  and  being  athwart  his  stern,  ready  with 
every  gun  to  fire  when  he  struck  his  colors,  we  may 
impute  the  conflict  not  being  more  bloody  on  our  side  ; 
for  had  not  these  advantages  been  taken  the  engage 
ment  would  not  have  ended  so  soon."  But  the  effects 
of  the  Insurgent's  fire  as  seen  on  the  Constellation 
showed  that  French  gunnery,  like  the  English,  was 
inferior.  The  loss  of  the  Insurgent  is  attributable  to 
these  two  facts,  for  the  Frenchmen  fought  gallantly, 
and  surrendered  only  when  further  resistance  would 


1799.  CAPTAIN   BARREAUT'S  REPORT.  153 

have  been  culpable.  Captain  Truxtun  spoke  in  the 
highest  terms  of  the  gallantry  of  all  his  officers,  and 
especially  mentioned  Lieutenants  John  Rodgers,  Wil 
liam  Cowper,  Andrew  Sterett,  John  Archer  and  Sail- 
ing-Master  Ambrose  Shirley.  The  other  officers  in  the 
ship  were  Bartholomew  Clinch,  lieutenant  of  marines  ; 
Henry  Vandyke,  John  Herbert  Dent,  Philip  C.  Weder- 
strandt,  John  M.  Clagett,  James  Macdonough,  David 
Porter,  William  Davis,  Joshua  Herbert,  Arthur  Sinclair 
(afterward  captain)  and  Thomas  Robinson,  midship 
men  ;  Samuel  B.  Brooks,  John  S.  Smith  and  Daniel 
Gorman,  master's  mates.1  The  merchants  of  London 

1  The  following  is  Captain  Barreaut's  official  account  of  the  action  : 

"At  Pitre  Point,  Liberty  Port,  this  29th  Pluviose,  year  7  of  the  French 
Republic.  Barreaut,  Frigate  Captain,  to  the  Citoyen  Desfourneaux  Par- 
ticulier  of  the  Executive  Directory  for  the  Windward  Islands. 

"CITIZEN  GENERAL:  It  is  ray  duty  and  desire  to  give  you  an  exact 
account  of  my  conduct  on  the  21st  Pluviose,  and  of  the  unfortunate  events 
following  it.  I  shall  not  deviate  from  the  truth,  arid  as  agent  and  military 
commander  I  beg  that  you  will  judge  me. 

"  The  21st  Pluviose,  about  three  leagues  off  the  northeast  point  ofc 
Nevis,  which  then  bore  N.  W.  by  N.,  the  wind  east,  the  lookout  called 
at  12.30  p.  M.,  that  there  was  a  sail  to  the  windward  of  us.  I  continued 
my  course  for  another  half  hour ;  then,  having  mounted  the  foreyard 
with  Citizen  Petit  Pierre,  I  saw  that  the  stranger  was  making  for  us. 
I  then  kept  away  to  the  northwest  with  the  intention  of  running  between 
Saba  and  St.  Kitts,  but  this  vessel  in  approaching  appeared  to  me  and  to 
all  on  the  yards  to  be  a  corvette  from  the  trim  of  her  sails.  Having, 
Citizen  agent,  engraved  upon  my  heart  your  words — '  You  are  going  to 
see  how  a  good  crew  conduct  themselves ' ;  I  think  a  corvette  would  not 
frighten  you — I  believed  it  was  the  moment  to  show  our  haughty  enemies 
[the  English]  that,  in  spite  of  the  superiority  of  their  forces,  vessels  of  war 
might  still  be  captured  from  them.  I  wished  also  to  inspire  confidence  in 
my  crew,  and  I  hauled  by  the  wind,  every  one  burning  with  ardor  for  the 
fight, 

"  At  one  o'clock  I  went  about  on  the  same  tack  as  this  vessel,  which 
continued  to  chase  us,  and  at  1.30  P.M.,  in  a  squall  in  which  the  top 
gallant  sails  were  taken  in,  the  Citizen  Durand  then  commanding  the 
manoeuvre,  the  main-topmast  fell — source  of  all  our  misfortune.  Immedi 
ately,  upon  the  advice  of  the  coasting  pilot,  I  steered  to  the  N.  W.  by  N. 
to  make  St.  Eustatius  if  I  had  time  to  gain  the  anchorage.  The  vessel, 
which  1  could  see  was  a  frigate,  chased  me.  I  had  hoisted  the  American 
flag ;  she  signaled  me  and  also  hoisted  an  American  flag. 


184       A  VIGOROUS  NAVAL  WAR  AGAINST  FRANCE.      1799. 

gave  Captain  Truxtun  a  handsome  piece  of  plate  for 
"having  captured  a  French  frigate  of  superior  force." 


"  I  found  myself  in  a  position  to  no  longer  avoid  an  engagement,  and 
as  the  stranger  still  pursued  me  it  became  necessary  to  ascertain  her  nation 
ality.  I  therefore  lowered  the  American  flag  and  hoisted  French  colors 
with  pennant,  which  I  confirmed  by  a  cannon  shot  to  leeward.  She 
hoisted  her  broad  pennant  with  the  American  flag  without  confirming. 
I  doubted  yet  that  she  was  an  American.  I  was  much  embarrassed  by 
your  orders,  which  were  not  to  fire  on  the  American  flag.  Thus  an  Eng 
lish  frigate  could  easily  have  made  use  of  this  flag  while  chasing  us,  thereby 
avoiding  the  fire  of  our  18-pounder,  with  which  we  could  have  seriously 
injured  her  [the  Constellation]  during  the  hour  and  a  half  she  was  over 
taking  us,  and  thus  have  given  me  time  to  save  myself. 

"  Again,  if  I  had  fired  on  the  American  frigate,  with  what  reproach 
would  you  not  have  overwhelmed  me  !  If  I  had  commenced  hostilities, 
and  in  the  end  had  been  defeated  all  the  blame  would  have  been  on  me ; 
and  it  would  have  been  said  that,  '  The  instructions  of  captains  of  Ameri 
can  frigates  did  not  permit  them  to  fire  on  the  Republic's  vessels.' 

"  Lastly,  it  stands  to  reason  that,  having  lost  my  main-topmast,  I  gave 
the  advantage  to  a  frigate  of  double  my  strength  in  letting  her  approach 
within  pistol  shot  before  defending  myself.  I  was  thus  obliged  to  receive 
a  full  broadside  from  a  frigate  of  24  and  12-pounders,  deliberately  aimed 
at  pistol  shot,  which  broadside  made  terrible  havoc  in  my  quarter-deck. 

"  At  three  o'clock  the  combat  began.  Judge  of  my  surprise  on  finding 
myself  fought  by  an  American  frigate,  after  all  the  friendship  and  protec 
tion  accorded  to  the  United  States !  My  indignation  was  at  its  height. 
As  soon  as  my  first  broadside  was  fired  I  cried,  and  with  all  the  men  on 
the  quarter-deck  and  forecastle,  '  Stand  by  to  board  ! '  My  cabin  was  in 
vaded  to  get  arms,  and  I  ran  to  the  helm  to  luff  her  in  order  to  run  aboard 
the  American  frigate.  L' Insurgents  obeyed  the  first  impulse,  but,  as  she 
was  without  sails  amidships  and  as  we  were  not  able  to  move  the  others 
quickly  enough,  the  American  frigate  had  time  to  run  ahead  of  us,  and 
having  all  her  sails  set  she  was  beyond  us,  which  compelled  us  to  man  the 
other  battery. 

"  My  only  remaining  resource  were  my  guns  and  an  18-pounder  of  the 
port  battery ;  and  manosuvring  with  much  difficulty,  we  fired  three  broad 
sides.  The  American  frigate  now  seemed  to  suspend  her  fire  and  I  ordered 
Citizen  Jourdan  to  suspend  ours,  thinking  that  the  American  captain 
might  still  be  considering  his  conduct,  But  he  again  opened  on  us,  so  I 
gave  orders  to  fire  also.  This  frigate  did  not  remain  abeam  of  us,  but 
sought  by  every  means  to  take  advantageous  positions  and  completely  to 
dismantle  us.  I  endeavored  to  repair  the  rigging.  The  mizzen-topmast 
had  fallen  in  the  top,  the  spanker  was  completely  riddled.  All  that  I 
could  do  was  to  take  it  in.  The  braces,  fore  bowlines,  and  fore  topsails 
were  completely  cut  through,  our  topmen  without  doubt  killed,  as  they  did 


1799.  CAPTAIN  BARREAUT'S  REPORT. 

Immediately  upon  the  surrender  of  the  Insurgent 
Lieutenant  John  Rodgers,  with  Midshipman  David  Por- 


not  reply  ;  the  master  did  not  appear  upon  the  bridge,  no  quartermasters 
were  left,  ©nly  a  bridgeman  and  the  masters.  All  I  could  do  was  to  give 
the  order  to  Citizen  Sire  to  square  everything ;  the  only  after  sail  was 
the  mizzen.  The  American  frigate  still  having  all  her  sails,  which  were 
only  slightly  injured,  and  moving  very  easily,  was  at  pistol  range  ahead 
of  us. 

"  Finally,  as  my  position  was  hopeless,  it  soon  became  necessary  to  sur 
render  to  very  superior  forces.  Seeing  many  men  wounded  and  killed 
about  the  decks,  I  decided  to  pass  forward  of  the  gangway  to  consult  my 
lieutenant.  At  this  moment  the  topmen  cried  out,  '  Two  ships  to  wind 
ward  coming  down  on  us,  and  they  are  large  vessels.'  I  said  to  my  sec 
ond  :  '  Rather  than  strike  to  two  English  ships  in  my  disabled  condition, 
I  prefer  to  surrender  to  the  American  frigate,  which  I  believe  has  not  the 
right  to  take  me,'  being  persuaded  that  war  did  not  exist  between  the  two 
nations. 

"After  two  hours'  combat,  totally  dismantled,  the  ship  like  a  hulk, 
having  as  our  only  defense  a  battery  of  12-pounders,  yet  well  provided 
with  a  crew  and  ammunition,  comparing  her  to  a  disabled  battery  against  a 
frigate  of  24-  and  12-pounders,  about  fifty  men  killed  or  wounded,  my  second 
said  to  me,  '  Do  as  you  please.'  No  objection  from  the  others,  I  thought 
it  necessary  to  strike,  so  that  I  might  have  a  chance  to  speak  to  the  Ameri 
can  commander. 

"The  American  frigate  then  sent  its  boat  aboard  to  take  me  and  my 
second  aboard  their  ship,  we  carrying  nothing  with  us.  My  first  question 
was :  '  Why  have  you  fired  upon  the  national  flag  1  Our  two  nations  are 
not  at  war.'  His  only  reply  was,  '  You  are  my  prisoner,'  and  he  made  us 
go  below  and  took  our  arms  from  us.  This  conduct  surprised  me,  the 
more  so  after  the  last  news  from  Europe  received  through  the  corvette  la 
iSagesse,  and  after  the  statement  of  the  Citizen  Marin,  who  declared  at 
the  Point  that  the  captain  of  the  frigate  Constitution  [Nicholson]  had  told 
him  that  if  he  had  overtaken  me  he  would  not  have  fired  the  first  shot  on 
me,  but  that  if  I  had  fired  he  would  have  replied. 

"  This  is  an  exact  account  of  my  conduct.  I  have  done  everything  I 
could  in  such  unfortunate  circumstances.  I  thought  that  about  two  hours 
of  combat,  the  total  dismantlement  of  my  frigate,  fifty  men  Tiors  de  com 
bat,  were  sufficient.  A  greater  obstinacy  would  have  caused  a  greater  loss 
of  men  without  having  any  hope  of  escape.  An  hour  later  I  should  have 
been  compelled  to  surrender  anyhow.  All  just  and  impartial  seamen  will 
tell  you  that  I  should  have  been  taken.  My  hope  was  that  Captain  Trux- 
tun,  commanding  the  Constellation,  had  taken  altogether  too  much  upon 
himself  in  firing  first  upon  us. 

"  The  next  morning  I  reported  to  him  what  the  captain  of  the  Consti 
tution  had  said  to  one  of  my  midshipmen.     He  replied  that  he  had  special 
15 


186       A  VIGOROUS  NAVAL   WAR  AGAINST  FRANCE.      1799. 

ter  and  eleven  men,  was  placed  aboard  the  prize  to  super 
intend  the  transfer  of  prisoners.  While  this  work  was 
going  on,  the  wind,  which  had  been  fresh  all  the  after 
noon,  came  on  to  a  gale,  and  by  sunset  it  was  so  vio 
lent  as  to  make  it  impossible  to  remove  the  remaining 
prisoners  (of  whom  one  hundred  and  seventy- three  were 
still  in  the  Insurgent]  or  to  re-enforce  the  Americans 
aboard  her.  During  the  night  the  ships  were  sepa 
rated,  and  on  the  following  morning  Lieutenant  Rodg- 
ers  anxiously  scanned  the  horizon,  but  no  trace  of  the 
Constellation  could  be  seen.  There  was  nothing  but 
an  unbroken  stretch  of  angry  white-capped  seas  on  all 
sides.  His  position  in  the  shattered  prize  was  critical, 
for  he  had  only  Midshipman  Porter  and  eleven  seamen 
to  guard  his  one  hundred  and  seventy- three  prisoners 
and  to  navigate  the  ship.  Furthermore,  the  Insurgent 
had  been  nearly  dismasted  in  the  action,  and  now 
rolled  in  the  trough  of  the  sea  in  a  most  alarming  man 
ner,  while  her  weakened  masts  tottered  and  bent,  threat 
ening  to  come  down  with  every  lurch  of  the  ship.  Her 
decks  resembled  a  slaughter  house,  the  dead  and  the 
dying  not  having  been  removed,  and  the  blood  stains 
not  having  been  washed  with  hot  vinegar. 

On  examination,  it  was  discovered  that  the  gratings 
for  the  hatchways,  the  ordinary  means  of  securing  pris- 

instructions,  known  only  to  himself,  and  that  three  months  before  war  had 
been  declared  in  France.  You  can  imagine  how  much  surprised  I  was, 
remembering  your  particular  orders  and  instructions  [i.  e.,  not  to  fire  on 
the  American  flag],  and  I  make  bold  to  assure  you  that  if  I  had  been  able, 
during  the  two  hours  that  the  American  frigate  was  in  our  wake,  within 
range  of  my  two  long  18-pound  stern  chasers,  to  fire  on  her,  I  should  have 
made  it  impossible  for  her  to  overtake  me. 

"  My  honor,  existence,  all  are  compromised  by  the  duplicity  of  this  in 
famous  government.  [Signed] 

"  BARREAUT." 

"  A  true  copy,  signed  Desfourneaux,  certifying  this  to  be  an  exact  copy 
of  the  original  deposited  at  the  Majorite  de  la  Marine.  Le  Commis  Prin 
cipal  de  la  Marine,  charged  with  the  execution  of  the  order  contained  in 
the  dispatch  of  the  28th  July,  1821.  SCHABRIE. 

"L'Orient  le  6  9bre,  1821." 


1799.  A  CRITICAL   SITUATION.  187 

oners,  had  disappeared  ;  and,  moreover,  not  a  handcuff 
or  shackle  of  any  kind  was  to  be  found.  It  certainly 
seemed  as  if  the  Americans  were  to  be  made  prisoners. 
Lieutenant  Rodgers,  however,  was  a  man  of  herculean 
strength  and  great  resolution,  and,  gallantly  seconded 
by  his  twelve  companions,  he  forced  the  prisoners  into 
the  lower  hold  ;  then  "one  of  the  guns  was  cast  loose 
loaded  with  grape  and  canister,  and  pointed  down  the 
hatch,  over  which  a  bag  filled  with  shot  was  sus 
pended,  ready  to  be  cut  away  at  a  moment's  notice. 
All  the  muskets  and  pistols  were  kept  loaded  and  were 
placed  by  the  hatch,  and  two  or  three  men  with  pikes 
and  battle  axes,  to  be  used  in  case  of  emergency,  stood 
at  the  opening."1  In  this  perilous  condition  the  little 
band  of  captors  remained  for  three  nights  and  two 
days,  and  during  this  time  all  were  constantly  on  duty. 
On  the  third  day  they  made  St.  Kitts,  where  they  found 
Captain  Truxtun  in  the  Constellation  anxiously  await 
ing  them. 

The  Insurgent  was  refitted  and  taken  into  the  serv 
ice  as  a  36 -gun  frigate,  the  command  of  her  being 
given  to  Captain  Alexander  Murray,  who  was  the  cap 
tain  of  the  Montezuma  when  chased  by  the  Insurgent 
on  the  20th  of  November,  1798.  Lieutenant  Rodgers 
was  promoted  to  the  rank  of  captain  and  on  the  13th  of 
July,  1799,  Lieutenant  William  Cowper  was  promoted 
to  the  rank  of  master  commandant,  the  former  being 
appointed  to  the  command  of  the  20-gun  ship  Mary 
land  and  the  latter  to  the  Baltimore.  The  Insur 
gent's  flag  is  now  in  the  Naval  Institute  Building  at 
Annapolis. 

The  capture  of  the  Insurgent  and  the  check  given 
to  privateering  made  the  Directory  better  disposed  to 
negotiate  a  treaty  of  peace  ;  and  as  it  assured  the  Unit 
ed  States  that  our  representatives  would  be  received 
with  more  respect  than  had  been  accorded  them  in  the 

1  Life  of  Commodore  David  Porter,  by  Admiral  David  D.  Porter,  p.  23. 


188       A  VIGOROUS  NAVAL  WAR  AGAINST  FRANCE.       1799. 

past,  the  44-gun  frigate  United  States,  Captain  John 
Barry,  was  sent  to  France  with  Messrs.  Ellsworth  and 
Davie  as  envoys,  sailing  from  Newport  on  November  3. 
In  the  meantime  Congress  did  not  relinquish  its  efforts 
to  build  up  a  permanent  navy,  and  $2,482,953.90  were 
voted  for  the  service  during  the  year  1800. 1 

On  returning  to  the  United  States  after  his  imprison 
ment  on  the  island  of  Guadeloupe,  Lieutenant  Wil 
liam  Bainbridge  was  promoted  to  the  rank  of  master 
commandant,  his  commission  bearing  the  date  of  March 


1  Since  the  Secretary  of  the  Navy  made  his  report  on  the  number  of 
ships  in  the  navy,  December  24,  1798,  the  following  vessels  had  been 
added  to  the  list :  The  44-gun  frigate  President,  the  36-gun  frigate  Chesa 
peake,  the  36-gun  frigate  Congress,  the  36-gun  frigate  Insurgent,  the  36-gun 
frigate  New  York,  the  36-gun  frigate  Philadelphia,  the  32-gun  frigate 
Essex,  the  28-gun  corvette  Adams,  the  28-gun  corvette  Boston,  the  28-gun 
corvette  General  Greene,  the  28-gun  corvette  John  Adams,  the  24-gun 
sloop  of  war  Connecticut,  the  24-gun  sloop  of  war  Trumbull,  the  20-gim 
sloop  of  war  Maryland,  the  20-gun  sloop  of  war  Patapsco,  the  18-gun  brig 
Warren,  the  14-gun  brig  Augusta,  the  12-gun  schooner  Enterprise  and 
the  12-gun  schooner  Experiment.  The  cruisers  were  divided  among  the 
different  squadrons  in  the  West  Indies  as  follows:  The  Adams,  Captain 
Richard  Valentine  Morris ;  the  John  Adams,  Captain  George  Cross ;  the 
Connecticut,  Captain  Moses  Tryon  ;  the'  Delaware,  Captain  Thomas  Baker; 
the  Baltimore,  Master-Commandant  William  Cowper ;  the  Eagle,  Master- 
Commandant  Hugh  George  Campbell ;  the  Pickering,  Lieutenant  Benjamin 
Hiller ;  the  Enterprise,  Lieutenant  John  Shaw  ;  and  the  Scammel,  Lieu 
tenant  Mark  Fernald,  at  the  Guadeloupe  station.  The  General  Greene, 
Captain  Christopher  Raymond  Perry ;  the  Boston,  Captain  George  Little ; 
the  Patapsco,  Captain  Henry  Geddes;  the  Herald,  Master-Commandant 
Charles  C.  Russell;  and  the  Augusta,  Lieutenant  Archibald  McElroy,  at 
the  St.  Domingo  station.  The  Warren,  Lieutenant  T.  Newman,  and  the 
Pinckney,  Lieutenant  Samuel  Heywood,  were  stationed  at  the  Havana 
station  ;  the  Portsmouth,  Captain  David  McNiell,  and  the  Maryland,  Cap 
tain  John  Rodgers,  at  the  Surinam  station.  The  Insurgent,  Captain  Alex 
ander  Murray,  sailed  with  a  roving  commission — the  West  Indies,  the 
Western  Isles,  Madeira,  the  Canary  Islands  and  the  coast  of  South  America 
as  far  as  Cayenne  being  suggested.  The  Richmond,  Master-Commandant 
Cyrus  Talbot,  was  ordered  to  cruise  as  far  as  St.  Mary's  until  November 
15,  when  she  was  to  return  to  Philadelphia.  The  United  States,  Captain 
John  Barry,  had  special  orders  until  early  in  May,  1800 ;  the  Chesapeake, 
Captain  Samuel  Barren,  conveyed  some  specie  from  Charleston  to  Phila 
delphia,  after  which  she  cruised  between  the  coast  and  the  West  Indies. 


1799.  THE   CRUISE  OF  THE  NORFOLK.  189 

29,  1799,  and  he  was  placed  in  command  of  the  18-gun 
brig  Norfolk  (one  of  the  vessels  which  his  quick  wit  had 
saved),  with  orders  to  join  the  squadron  at  St.  Kitts, 
commanded  by  Captain  Thomas  Truxtun.  While  chas 
ing  a  large  three-masted  schooner  just  out  from  Basse 
Terre,  the  Norfolk  lost  both  her  topmasts  and  was 
compelled  to  put  into  St.  Kitts  for  repairs.  Sailing 
again,  she  convoyed  a  fleet  of  one  hundred  'and  nine 
teen  merchantmen,  bound  for  different  ports  in  the 
United  States.  When  in  latitude  34°  North,  the  ships 
fell  in  with  a  French  frigate,  when  Master-Command 
ant  Bainbridge  signaled  his  convoy  to  disperse  while 
he  drew  the  Frenchman  off  in  chase.  The  manoeuvre 
succeeded,  and  having  led  the  enemy  far  enough  away, 
the  Norfolk  hauled  close  to  the  wind  and  soon  ran  her 
pursuer  out  of  sight,  rejoining  her  convoy  on  the  fol 
lowing  day  at  a  rendezvous  previously  agreed  upon. 

On  the  12th  of  September  the  Norfolk  sailed  from 
New  York  for  Cape  Frangais,  to  join  the  squadron 
under  Captain  Christopher  Raymond  Perry  (father  of 
the  hero  of  the  Battle  of  Lake  Erie),  who  commanded 
the  28-gun  ship  General  Greene,  Oliver  Hazard  Perry 
at  that  time  serving  in  her  as  a  midshipman.  On  the 
31st  of  October,  while  she  was  cruising  off  St.  Domingo, 
with  her  guns  housed  and  disguised  as  a  merchantman, 
an  armed  barge,  rowed  by  sixteen  oars  and  filled  with 
men,  came  out  in  chase  from  the  northwest  point  of 
the  island.  Pretending  to  make  great  efforts  to  escape, 
Master-Commandant  Bainbridge  allowed  the  barge  to 
come  within  musket  shot,  when  the  men  in  it  waved 
their  hats  as  a  signal  for  the  brig  to  heave  to,  and  at 
the  same  time  they  opened  a  fire  of  musketry  and 
swivels.  But  growing  suspicious  of  the  Norfolk  they 
made  for  the  shore,  and  then  the  Americans  triced 
up  their  ports  and  fired  a  broadside.  From  the  pierc 
ing  shrieks  in  the  barge  it  was  evident  that  many  were 
hurt.  Owing  to  the  calm  the  Norfolk  could  not  follow 
up  the  attack,  but  her  boats  were  sent  after  the  barge, 


190       A  VIGOROUS  NAVAL  WAR  AGAINST  FRANCE.      1799. 

which  was  captured  on  the  beach  shortly  after  her  men 
had  left  it.  Two  of  them  were  found  dead,  four  were 
dying  in  the  grass,  and  others  were  thought  to  be 
badly  wounded,  as  many  bloody  trails  were  discovered 
leading  into  the  woods. 

Nine  days  after  this,  while  off  Cape  Nicolas  Mole, 
the  Norfolk  captured  the  French  lugger  Republican 
and  her  prize,  laden  with  coffee.  On  boarding  the  latter 
the  Americans  found  the  decks  strewed  with  mangled 
bodies,  while  five  women  and  six  children  were  weep 
ing  over  their  murdered  husbands  and  fathers.  The 
prize  had  sailed  from  a  port  in  the  vicinity  for  Cuba 
only  a  short  time  before,  but  had  scarcely  made  the 
offing  when  she  was  pursued  by  a  brigand  barge  filled 
with  armed  men,  who  boarded  her,  killed  all  the  male 
passengers,  and  were  plundering  the  vessel  which  car 
ried  a  considerable  amount  of  specie  when  the  Repub 
lican  hove  in  sight  and  drove  the  pirates  off.  Master- 
Commandant  Bainbridge  sent  the  prize  to  the  United 
States,  and  forwarded  the  unhappy  survivors  to  their 
destination. 

On  the  14th  of  November  the  Norfolk  was  ordered 
to  cruise  on  the  Cuba  station,  with  the  Warren,  Lieu 
tenant  T.  Newman,  and  the  Pinckney,  Lieutenant 
Samuel  Hey  wood,  in  company.  While  engaged  in  this 
service  she  chased  a  French  privateer  ashore,  where  it 
was  destroyed.  Learning  that  another  privateer  was 
being  fitted  out  at  Havana,  the  Norfolk  blockaded  that 
port  in  spite  of  the  protestations  of  the  Spanish  gov 
ernor,  and  compelled  the  commander  to  dismantle  his 
vessel  and  discharge  his  crew.  For  six  months  this  lit 
tle  squadron  kept  the  sea  during  the  inclement  season 
(with  the  exception  of  ten  days  in  port  for  provisions) 
and  gave  convoy  to  many  merchant  ships  going  in  and 
out  of  the  port.  For  this  service  Master-Commandant 
Bainbridge,  on  the  2d  of  May,  1800,  was  promoted  to 
the  rank  of  captain. 

Before  the  close  of  the  year  1799  the  Congress,  Cap- 


1799.  NARROW  ESCAPE  OP   THE  CONGRESS.  191 

tain  James  Sever,  and  the  Essex,  Captain  Edward  Pre- 
ble,  convoyed  a  fleet  of  merchantmen  to  Batavia. 
While  off  Porto  Rico  the  Congress  gave  chase  to  a 
French  privateer,  which  made  for  a  shoal  known  as  the 
Silver  Keys.  Charles  Morris,  who  was  the  first  lieuten 
ant  of  the  Constitution  when  that  frigate  was  pursued 
by  a  British  squadron  in  1812,  was  in  the  Congress  at 
this  time  as  a  midshipman,  and  he  describes  the  chase 
of  the  French  privateer  as  follows  :  "In  the  eagerness 
of  pursuit  the  danger  of  the  shoals  was  probably  for 
gotten,  the  attention  of  all  being  engrossed  by  the 
chase,  in  which  we  were  gaining  upon  the  privateer. 
While  I  was  watching  her  movements  with  others  on 
the  forecastle,  the  gunner,  who  was  at  my  side,  quietly 
told  me  to  look  at  the  water  under  and  near  our  bows. 
My  attention  being  thus  directed,  rocks  were  visible, 
which  to  appearance  were  very  near  the  surface.  The 
gunner  then  told  me  to  go  quietly  to  the  captain,  who 
was  on  the  quarter-deck,  and  tell  him  what  I  had 
seen,  but  not  to  mention  it  to  others.  This  was  quickly 
done.  Captain  Sever  told  me  to  remain  by  him,  and, 
turning  to  the  officer  of  the  deck,  directed  him  to 
'ready  about,'  and,  as  soon  as  ready,  to  tack;  and 
when  about,  to  keep  her  off  two  points,  by  which  to 
gain  her  former  tack.  Then  for  the  first  time  the  cap 
tain  looked  over  the  side  of  the  ship  and  saw  the  dark 
objects  just  below  the  surface  of  the  water  which  al 
ways  sends  a  cold  shudder  over  every  seaman.  The 
officers  and  men  also  discovered  the  danger,  but  the 
course  taken  by  Captain  Sever  prevented  all  danger 
and  confusion.  The  privateer  being  a  very  light  craft 
was  able  to  continue  her  course  and  so  escaped." 

Soon  after  this  the  masts  and  bowsprit  of  the  Con 
gress  were  carried  away  in  a  gale,  and  Fourth-Lieuten 
ant  Bosworth,  who  was  endeavoring  to  lower  the  main- 
topmast  at  the  time,  was  lost  with  the  wreck.  This  mis 
hap  was  due  to  the  fact  that  the  rigging  had  been  fitted 
in  the  cold  climate  of  the  north,  so  that  when  the  ship 


192       A  VIGOROUS   NAVAL   WAR  AGAINST   FRANCE.       1799. 

got  into  the  Gulf  Stream  the  shrouds  and  stays  slack 
ened  up,  in  which  condition  the  ship  was  overtaken 
by  a  violent  gale.  It  will  be  more  readily  understood 
how  such  a  disaster  could  occur  when  we  remember 
that  the  masts  at  that  time  were  usually  made  of  a  sin 
gle  stick,  while  the  shrouds  and  stays,  instead  of  being 
of  steel  rope  like  those  of  the  present  day,  were  made 
of  cordage,  which  admitted  of  greater  expansion  and 
contraction.  The  United  States,  Captain  John  Barry, 
during  her  first  cruise  nearly  lost  her  masts  from  the 
same  cause.  During  a  heavy  gale,  when  the  ship  was 
scudding  along  at  ten  knots  and  at  times  almost  on  her 
beam  ends,  her  rigging  became  dangerously  slack. 
James  Barron,  the  third  lieutenant,  volunteered  to  save 
the  masts,  and  by  getting  purchases  on  every  other 
shroud  and  swaying  all  together  the  difficult  task  was 
accomplished.  The  Congress  returned  to  port,  but  the 
Essex  reached  her  destination,  and  was  the  first  United 
States  cruiser  to  carry  the  American  flag  eastward  of 
the  Cape  of  Good  Hope. 


CHAPTER  III. 

THE   WAR   WITH   FRANCE   IN   1800. 

EARLY  on  the  morning  of  February  1,  1800,  while 
cruising  on  her  prescribed  grounds,  about  fifteen  miles 
west  of  Basse  Terre,  the  Constellation,  Captain  Thomas 
Truxtun.  gave  chase  to  a  sail  that  appeared  to  the 
south,  standing  to  the  west,  which  on  close  inspection 
proved  to  be  a  heavy  French  frigate.  Orders  were  im 
mediately  given  to  sling  the  yards  with  chains  and 
clear  the  ship  for  action.  Toward  noon  the  wind  be 
came  light,  enabling  the  stranger  to  hold  his  own,  and 
in  this  relative  position  the  two  frigates  remained  twen 
ty-four  hours.  At  one  o'clock  on  Sunday  afternoon, 
February  2d,  the  wind  freshened,  so  that  by  setting 
every  inch  of  canvas,  except  the  bag  reefs  which  were 
kept  in  the  topsails  in  case  the  enemy  attempted  to 
haul  on  a  wind,  the  Constellation  gained  rapidly.  At 
eight  o'clock  she  came  within  gunshot,  when  Captain 
Truxtun  lighted  his  battle  lanterns,  hoisted  his  colors, 
and  stepped  to  the  gangway  to  hail,  but  at  this  mo 
ment  the  stranger  opened  fire  from  his  stern  chasers 
and  quarter-deck  guns. 

Before  the  vessels  came  to  close  quarters  Captain 
Truxtun  with  his  aids  had  passed  along  the  divisions 
on  the  gun  deck  and  had  carefully  instructed  the  men 
not  to  fire  until  he  gave  the  word,  and  above  all  not  to 
throw  away  a  single  charge  of  powder  or  shot,  but  to 
aim  with  deliberation  and  fire  into  the  enemy's  hull. 
His  orders  were  to  load  principally  with  round  shot, 
with  now  and  then  a  stand  of  grape  added  to  it.  The 
men  of  the  four  divisions  were  also  instructed  to  load 

(193) 


194  THE  WAR  WITH  FRANCE  IN  1800.  1800. 

as  fast  as  possible,  but  to  fire  only  when  it  could  be 
done  with  certain  effect,  and  he  particularly  enjoined 
it  upon  the  officers  to  allow  no  confusion  in  loading, 
and  to  encourage  their  men  by  their  example  and 
bearing.  When  the  stranger  opened  with  his  stern 
chasers  the  Constellation  did  not  reply  immediately,  as 
Captain  Truxtun  wished  to  come  to  close  action  at  once. 
Observing  that  the  stranger's  shot  were  doing  consider 
able  damage  and  were  causing  some  restlessness  among 
the  American  gun  crews,  Captain  Truxtun  sent  Mid 
shipman  Henry  Vandyke  to  the  officers  commanding 
the  different  divisions,  to  warn  them  again  to  refrain 
from  firing.  The  instructions  were  faithfully  carried 
out,  and  the  men  stood  silently  by  their  guns  and  saw 
one  after  another  of  their  shipmates  fall  to  the  deck, 
mutilated  or  killed  by  some  unseen  missile  and  hurried 
below  to  the  cockpit,  while  the  ever-present  quartermas 
ter  in  ominous  silence  sprinkled  sand  over  the  little  pools 
of  blood,  to  prevent  the  deck  from  becoming  slippery. 

Finally,  having  reached  a  favorable  position  off  the 
stranger's  weather  quarter,  Captain  Truxtun  stepped  to 
the  quarter-deck  taffrail  and  gave  the  word  to  fire.  In 
an  instant  the  different  divisions  belched  forth  a  torrent 
of  carefully  aimed  round  shot,  while  the  recoil  of  so 
many  guns  at  almost  the  same  instant  shook  the  frigate 
from  stem  to  stern.  Judging  by  the  shrieks  that  could 
be  distinctly  heard  in  the  opposing  ship  after  the  deaf 
ening  roar  of  the  broadside  had  subsided,  the  effect 
must  have  been  terrific.  The  Americans  now  hastened 
to  reload  their  guns  and  fire  again  as  soon  as  the  smoke 
enabled  them  to  get  a  fair  view  of  their  antagonist. 
Some  of  the  cannon  were  handled  with  such  rapidity 
that  they  became  so  heated  that  it  was  necessary  to 
dash  buckets  of  water  over  them. 

It  seemed  to  be  the  enemy's  object  to  avoid  an  en 
gagement,  and  to  further  this  end  he  directed  most  of  his 
shot  at  the  Constellation's  rigging,  while  the  Ameri 
cans,  eager  for  another  yard  arm  action,  aimed  at  the 


1800.       SECOND  ACTION  WITH  A  FRENCH.  FRIGATE.         195 

enemy's  hull.  The  result  was  that  the  Constellations 
rigging  soon  became  seriously  damaged,  and  a  large 
part  of  her  crew  was  employed  in  splicing  ropes  as  fast 
as  they  were  cut,  and  repairing  the  sails  and  spars  as 
much  as  possible.  Toward  midnight  the  Frenchman's 
tire  slackened,  and  by  half  past  twelve  it  was  silenced. 
By  this  time  the  Constellation? s  rigging  and  spars  were 
seriously  cut  up,  although  her  hull  was  comparatively 
unhurt.  It  was  now  ascertained  that  the  mainmast  was 
unsupported,  every  stay  and  shroud  having  been  car 
ried  away,  so  that  stoppers  were  rendered  useless.  The 
men  were  immediately  ordered  from  their  guns  to  meet 
this  new  danger  ;  but  it  was  too  late,  for  a  minute  aft 
erward  it  went  over  with  a  crash,  carrying  the  topmen 
and  Midshipman  James  C.  Jarvis  with  the  wreck.  This 
young  man,  although  warned  by  a  gray-haired  seaman 
of  the  critical  condition  of  the  mast,  refused  to  leave 
his  post,  saying  that  if  the  mast  went  they  must  go 
with  it.  Every  effort  was  made  to  clear  the  wreck, 
which  was  done  in  an  hour ;  but  the  Frenchman,  hav 
ing  sustained  little  damage  in  his  rigging,  had  improved 
this  opportunity  to  escape,  so  that  by  the  time  the  Con 
stellation  was  again  under  way  the  stranger  was  lost  in 
the  night,  whereupon  Captain  Truxtun  made  sail  for 
Jamaica  to  repair  damages. 

The  Frenchman  was  known  subsequently  to  have 
been  the  40-gun  frigate  Vengeance^  Captain  A.  M.  Pitot. 
In  his  official  report  Captain  Pitot  neglects  to  give  the 
particulars  of  this  action ;  but  on  the  20th  of  the  fol 
lowing  August,  or  six  months  afterward,  the  Vengeance 
was  captured  by  the  British  frigate  Seine,  Captain 
David  Milne  (afterward  rear-admiral),  when  she  carried 
twenty-eight  long  18-pounders  on  the  main  deck,  six 
teen  long  12-pounders  on  the  quarter-deck  and  forecas 
tle,  and  eight  short  42-pound  carronades,  making  a  total 
of  fifty- two  guns  with  eleven  hundred  and  fifteen  English 
pounds  of  metal.  During  the  engagement  between  the 
Constellation  and  the  Vengeance  the  latter  had  thirty- 


196  THE  WAR  WITH  FRANCE  IN  1800.  1800. 

six  American  prisoners  aboard,  who  refused  to  fight 
against  their  flag. 

Since  her  action  with  the  Insurgent  the  Constella 
tion  had  exchanged  ten  of  her  long  12-pounders  for 
24-pound  carronades,  the  first,  it  is  believed,  ever  used 
in  our  navy.  Her  24-pounders  also  had  been  exchanged 
for  long  18-pounders,  so  that  at  the  time  of  this  action 
her  armament  consisted  of  twenty-eight  long  18-pound 
ers  on  the  main  deck,  and  twelve  long  12-pounders  and 
ten  short  24-pounders  on  the  quarter-deck  and  fore 
castle,  in  all  fifty  guns  with  eight  hundred  and  twenty- 
six  actual  pounds  of  metal.  Out  of  her  crew  of  three 
hundred  and  ten  she  lost  fourteen  killed  and  twenty- 
five  wounded,  eleven  of  the  wounded  afterward  dying 
of  their  injuries.  Captain  Pitot  does  not  report  his 
losses,  merely  saying  :  u  In  consequence  of  the  action, 
1  was  so  much  damaged  in  my  rigging  that  I  was  forced 
to  put  back  to  the  port  of  Curagoa,  endeavoring  to  bend 
sails  on  the  stumps  of  the  masts  that  still  remained, 
by  means  of  which  we  were  enabled  to  reach  this  port 
on  the  18th  of  the  same  month."  James  Howe,  one  of 
the  American  prisoners  aboard  the  Vengeance,  reported 
that  one  hundred  and  eighty-six  round  shot  struck  her 
hull,  and  that  the  slaughter  was  horrible.  Some  of  her 
passengers  were  mustered  at  quarters.  The  regular 
complement  of  a  French  40-gun  frigate  was  three  hun 
dred  and  thirty  men,  which,  for  lack  of  other  satis 
factory  information,  will  be  taken  as  the  Vengeance} s 
complement  on  this  occasion,  although  the  passengers 
mustered  at  quarters  would  probably  bring  the  number 
up  to  three  hundred  and  fifty.  In  consequence  of  the 
Constellation  directing  her  fire  at  the  enemy's  hull,  the 
French  suffered  heavily  in  men,  their  loss  being  fifty 
killed  and  one  hundred  and  ten  wounded. 

Comparative  force  and  loss. 

Guns.      Lbs.       Crew.     Killed.  Wounded.    Total. 

Constellation:       50      826      310        14          25          39     i    Time, 
Vengeance :  52    1,115      330        50        110        160    ^  5  hours. 


1800.       SECOND   ACTION  WITH  A  FRENCH  FRIGATE.        197 

Captain  Pitot  reports  the  Constellation  as  a  "fre- 
gate  des  Etats  Unis  de  soixante  canons  et  ayant  cinq 
cent  hommes  d'equipage.  Elle  a  du  vingt-quatre  et 
dix-huit  dans  sa  batterie  et  du  douze  sur  ses  gaillards." 
It  is  hardly  necessary  to  show  the  error  of  this  state 
ment,  but  it  will  be  remarked  that  no  ship  in  the  United 
States  navy  up  to  1814  carried  more  than  fifty-five  guns, 
and  not  even  the  heaviest  frigates  as  many  as  five  hun 
dred  men.  That  the  36-gun  frigate  Constellation,  under 
cover  of  night,  should  have  handled  the  Vengeance  so 
energetically  as  to  induce  Captain  Pitot  to  believe  she 
was  a  frigate  of  sixty  guns  and  manned  by  five  hundred 
men,  is  the  highest  possible  compliment  to  Captain 
Truxtun  and  his  men. 

The  officers  in  the  Constellation  who  so  gallantly 
conducted  this  second  frigate  action  of  the  war  were 
Lieutenants  Andrew  Sterett,  Ambrose  Shirley,  Samuel 
B.  Brooks  and  John  Herbert  Dent.  The  sailing  mas 
ter  was  Daniel  Eldridge,  and  the  lieutenant  of  ma 
rines  was  Bartholomew  Clinch,  while  the  midshipmen 
were  Philip  C.  Wederstrandt,  Robert  Henly,  Henry 
Vandyke,  Benjamin  Yancey,  Samuel  Angus,  Samuel 
Woodhouse,  John  M.  Claggett,  Robert  Warren,  James 
T.  Leonard,  Benjamin  F.  Read,  Thomas  Robinson  and 
James  C.  Jarvis.  For  this  handsome  affair  Captain 
Truxtun  received  a  gold  medal  from  Congress  and  was 
placed  in  command  of  the  44-gun  frigate  President, 
while  the  Constellation  was  given  to  Captain  Alexan 
der  Murray,  with  orders  to  join  the  West  India  squad 
ron  under  the  command  of  Captain  Silas  Talbot.1 

1  Captain  Pitot's  official  report  of  this  action  is  as  follows  : 

Year  8. 


"  A.  M.  PITOT,  captain  commanding  la  Vengeance  of  the  French  Republic, 

to  the  Minister  of  the  Marine  and  Colonies  : 

"  CITIZEN  MINISTER  :  I  have  the  honor  to  send  you  an  account  of  two 
actions  I  have  had  on  the  12th  and  13th  Pluviose  with  an  American  frigate, 
which  attacked  us  at  eight  o'clock  in  the  evening  in  latitude  15°  17'  North 
and  longitude  66°  4'  West  of  Paris,  and  fought  at  first  under  the  English 
flag  and  then  the  American.  I  am  ignorant  of  its  name.  The  rumor 


198  THE  WAR   WITH  FRANCE  IN  1800.  1800. 

The  squadron  under  Captain  Silas  Talbot  had  been 
cruising  some  time  .on  its  station  off  St.  Domingo,  when 
it  was  ascertained  that  a  valuable  French  letter  of 
marque,  the  Sandwich,  was  about  to  sail  from  Puerto 
Plata.  Fearing  that  he  would  not  be  able  to  capture 
her  if  she  once  got  to  sea,  Captain  Talbot  resolved  to 
attempt  the  difficult  feat  of  cutting  her  out  of  the 
harbor.  First-Lieutenant  Isaac  Hull  was  sent  with  one 
of  the  Constitution's  barges  to  reconnoiter.  A  few 
days  afterward  the  American  sloop  Sally  was  secured, 
armed  and  fitted  at  sea,  so  that  the  people  on  shore 
could  not  discover  what  was  going  on,  and  having 
taken  aboard  a  party  of  about  ninety  volunteers  she 
got  under  way  on  the  following  night. 

While  the  Sally  was  still  some  distance  from  the 
harbor  a  shot  flew  just  ahead  of  her  bow,  and  a  mo 
ment  later  the  dark  outlines  of  a  frigate  loomed  up  off 

which  1  heard  from  the  Governor  of  CuraQoa,  and  all  the  information  that 
I  have  been  enabled  to  procure,  lead  me  to  believe  that  the  action  took 
place  with  the  Constellation,  frigate  of  the  United  States,  of  sixty  cannons 
and  having  five  hundred  men  as  a  crew.  She  had  24-  and  18-pounders  in 
her  battery  and  12-ponnders  upon  her  quarter-deck  and  forecastle. 

"  You  will  see,  Citizen  Minister,  what  has  been  my  conduct  on  this 
occasion  ;  everything  showed  me  that  I  must  avoid  an  action  in  the  posi 
tion  I  was  in,  and  must  limit  myself  to  the  defensive.  I  acted  in  conse 
quence.  After  having  in  the  first  action  dismantled  my  antagonist,  I  made 
all  sail  and  continued  my  course.  As  to  him,  he  could  have  attacked  us  in 
daylight,  but  he  did  not  do  so,  preferring  to  attack  at  nightfall,  and  after 
having  been  forcibly  repulsed  he  returned  to  the  charge.  The  engagement 
was  very  exciting.  In  consequence  of  the  action  I  was  so  much  damaged 
in  my  rigging  that  I  was  forced  to  run  before  the  wind  to  Curagoa,  working 
to  bend  new  sails  on  the  stumps  of  the  masts  which  remained,  by  means 
of  which  we  were  enabled  to  reach  port  on  the  18th  of  the  same  month.  I 
was  very  well  received  here  by  the  governor  and  the  marine  commandant. 
Each  of  my  officers  fulfilled  his  duty  with  honor,  courage  and  talent,  and 
I  must  express  very  great  satisfaction  with  their  conduct.  I  have  too  much 
confidence  in  the  justice  of  the  Government  to  believe  that  it  will  be  neces 
sary  for  me  to  solicit  its  good  offices  in  their  favor.  But  I  can  not  refuse 
myself  1  he  pleasure  of  letting  you  know  what  brave  people  I  command,  the 
more  so  as  it  is  the  second  action  in  which  the  great  part  of  them  have 
participated  in  la  Vengeance  in  the  space  of  ten  months. 

"  (Signed)  A.  M.  PITOT." 


1800. 


EXPLOIT  OF  THE  SALLY. 


199 


her  starboard  quarter.  This  startling  summons  to 
heave  to  was  obeyed,  and  a  few  minutes  later  a  British 
lieutenant  boarded  the  sloop  and  demanded  her  papers. 
Lieutenant  Hull  explained  the  nature  of  the  expedi 
tion,  upon  which  the  British  officer  expressed  disap 
pointment,  as  his  commander  also  had  been  waiting 
for  an  opportunity  to  cut  out  the  Sandwich.  The 
sloop  then  resumed  her  course  and  soon  arrived  off  the 
harbor.  The  Sandwich  was  anchored  so  as  to  rake  any 
vessel  entering  the  port  with  her  entire  broadside,  and 


Scene  of  the  naval  war  in  1SOO. 

a  battery  on  shore  gave  her  ^  additional  protection. 
Lieutenant  Hull  divided  his  force  :  one  party  to  remain 
in  the  Sally  and  board  the  letter  of  marque,  while  the 
other,  under  Captain  Daniel  Carmick  and  Lieutenant 
William  Armory  of  the  marines,  was  to  take  the  boats 
for  the  purpose  of  landing  and  spiking  the  guns  in  the 
battery.  Having  made  these  dispositions  for  the  attack, 
the  boat  party  put  off,  while  the  Sally  boldly  entered 
the  harbor  and  stood  for  the  enemy.  Lieutenant  Hull 


200  THE  WAR  WITH   FRANCE  IN    1800.  1800. 

and  his  men  concealed  themselves  in  the  hold  of  the 
Sally,  leaving  only  five  or  six  on  deck  to  work  the 
sails.  The  surprise  was  complete.  The  sloop  ran 
alongside  the  Sandwich  about  twelve  o'clock ;  the  men 
boarded  and  in  a  few  minutes  secured  her.  The  men 
under  Captain  Carmick  by  this  time  had  landed  and 
spiked  the  guns  before  effectual  resistance  could  be 
made.  They  then  returned  to  their  boats  and  rejoined 
Lieutenant  Hull  in  the  Sandwich.  The  letter  of  marque 
was  cut  from  her  moorings,  her  guns  scaled  and  sail 
was  made,  and  by  sunrise  both  vessels  were  well  out 
of  the  harbor.  This  gallant  affair  was  conducted  with 
much  steadiness,  and  reflects  the  highest  credit  on  Lieu 
tenant  Hull ;  but  seizure  was  illegal,  as  Captain  Talbot 
learned  on  arrival  in  port,  and  the  Sandwich  was  re 
turned  with  full  compensation  for  losses. 

In  July  the  Insurgent,  Captain  Patrick  Fletcher, 
got  to  sea  with  these  instructions  :  "  After  leaving  the 
Capes  of  the  Chesapeake  take  an  easterly  course,  keep 
ing  rather  north  of  38°  North  latitude  until  you  obtain 
the  longitude  68°  West,  and  cruise  for  a  few  weeks  be 
tween  longitude  68°  and  66°  West,  and  stretch  as  far 
south  as  latitude  31°  or  30°."  Since  her  departure  on 
this  cruise,  July  14,  1800,  she  has  not  been  heard  from. 
In  the  following  month  the  Pickering,  Master-Com 
mandant  Benjamin  Hillar,  got  to  sea  with  orders  to 
cruise  in  the  neighborhood  of  Gfuadeloupe,  and  that 
vessel  also  has  never  been  heard  from.  It  was  thought 
that  she  and  the  Insurgent  went  down  in  the  great 
equinoctial  gale  of  September,  1800,  so  that  down  to 
this  year  three  vessels  of  the  navy,  the  Saratoga,  the 
Insurgent  and  the  Pickering,  had  shared  this  fate. 

During  the  year  1800  the  12-gun  schooner  Enter 
prise,  Lieutenant  John  Shaw,  had  a  remarkable  career. 
This  little  vessel  and  her  sister  schooner,  the  Exper 
iment,  had  been  constructed  with  a  view  of  dealing 
with  the  small  fore-and-aft  rigged  French  privateers 
which  swarmed  in  the  West  Indies,  and  wThich  the 


1800.  THE  CRUISE  OF  THE  ENTERPRISE.  201 

heavy,  square-rigged  frigates  could  not  so  readily  cap 
ture.  These  two  schooners  were  armed  with  twelve 
old-fashioned  6-pounders,  and  their  complements  varied 
from  sixty  to  eighty- three  men  and  boys. 

About  the  1st  of  April,  while  near  the  Mona  Pas 
sage,  the  Enterprise  discovered  a  brig  under  Spanish 
colors  bearing  away  to  the  southeast.  Lieutenant 
Shaw  hoisted  his  flag  and  gave  chase,  but  as  soon  as 
he  was  within  gunshot  the  brig  opened  fire.  Lieuten 
ant  Shaw  did  not  reply  immediately,  but  reserving  his 
ammunition  until  he  had  gained  a  position  off  the  brig's 
weather  quarter  he  poured  in  a  broadside,  and  after  a 
sharp  action  of  twenty  minutes,  during  which  the  stran 
ger  kept  her  Spanish  colors  flying,  the  vessels  separated 
by  mutual  consent,  evidently  satisfied  that  a  mistake 
had  been  made.  The  Spaniard  mounted  eighteen  guns 
of  heavier  caliber  than  the  Enterprise.  Lieutenant 
Shaw  gained  much  applause  for  this  spirited  affair. 

While  lying  in  the  port  of  St.  Thomas,  repairing 
damages  after  this  action,  the  Enterprise  received  an 
invitation  to  meet  a  heavy  French  lugger,  carrying 
the  same  number  of  guns,  outside  the  harbor.  The 
challenge  was  accepted,  but  after  waiting  several  days 
in  vain  for  the  Frenchman  to  appear,  and  firing  taunt 
ing  shot  toward  the  harbor,  the  Enterprise  made  for 
St.  Kitts,  capturing  a  small  privateer  on  the  way. 
Having  taken  aboard  fresh  provisions  at  this  port, 
Lieutenant  Shaw  sailed  in  May,  and  when  a  few  days 
out  he  captured  the  letter  of  marque  Seine.  Although 
this  vessel  mounted  only  four  guns  and  had  no  more 
than  fifty-four  men  and  boys  to  man  her,  she  made 
a  desperate  resistance,  and  did  not  surrender  until 
twenty-four  of  her  crew  had  been  killed  or  wounded. 
The  Enterprise  had  several  men  wounded  and  sus 
tained  some  injury  in  her  hull  and  rigging.  Two 
weeks  afterward,  while  cruising  to  the  leeward  of 
Guadeloupe,  Lieutenant  Shaw  captured  the  6-gun 
privateer  Citoyenne,  with  fifty-seven  men,  which  did 


202  THE  WAR  WITH  FRANCE  IN   1800.  1800. 

not  surrender  until  after  a  stubborn  resistance.  The 
French  loss  was  four  killed  and  ten  wounded,  while 
the  Americans  had  a  marine  killed  and  seven  seamen 
wounded.  The  prize  was  sent  to  St.  Kitts. 

After  refitting  at  this  port  the  Enterprise  put  to  sea 
again,  and  while  passing  between  Antigua  and  Desi- 
rade  she  fell  in  with  the  lugger  that  a  month  before 
had  challenged  her  at  St.  Thomas.  Lieutenant  Shaw 
promptly  closed,  in  the  expectation  of  a  desperate 
encounter,  but  to  his  surprise  the  Frenchman  sur 
rendered  after  exchanging  a  few  shot.  He  had  a 
number  of  passengers  aboard,  among  whom  was  a 
French  general.  Taking  his  prize  to  St.  Kitts,  Lieu 
tenant  Shaw  held  the  general  and  the  master  of  the 
lugger  to  share  the  fate  of  two  Americans  who  were  in 
the  hands  of  the  enemy  at  Guadeloupe  and  were 
threatened  with  death,  and  by  this  means  he  obtained 
their  release. 

Remaining  in  port  only  long  enough  to  replenish 
his  stores,  Lieutenant  Shaw  sailed  again,  and  when  to 
the  leeward  of  Guadeloupe  he  fell  in  with  the  cele 
brated  French  privateer  brig  V Agile,  which  had  done 
so  much  harm  to  American  and  English  commerce, 
carrying  ten  guns  and  seventy-eight  men.  The  ves 
sels  passed  each  other  on  opposite  tacks,  the  Enter 
prise  to  leeward.  The  instant  they  exchanged  broad 
sides  Lieutenant  Shaw  put  his  helm  down  and  under 
cover  of  the  smoke  came  quickly  into  the  French 
man's  wake,  and  raked  him  with  four  guns  before 
the  latter  was  aware  of  the  manoeuvre,  making  eleven 
shot  in  all  fired  by  the  Americans.  As  the  Enter 
prise  was  working  easily  Lieutenant  Shaw  allowed  her 
to  come  around  on  the  other  tack,  when  he  ran  aboard 
the  Frenchman's  weather  quarter  and  carried  him  by 
boarding.  The  comparative  ease  with  which  T Agile 
had  been  captured  at  first  occasioned  some  surprise,  as 
her  commander  was  reputed  to  be  one  of  the  most  dar 
ing  and  determined  privateersmen  in  the  West  Indies. 


1800.  THE   CRUISE  OF  THE  ENTERPRISE.  203 

When  the  Americans  boarded,  however,  they  found 
the  commander  of  V Agile  stretched  out  on  the  deck, 
having  been  struck  on  the  upper  part  of  his  forehead 
early  in  the  action  by  a  cannon  shot,  which  tore  away 
his  scalp.  He  afterward  recovered  consciousness  and 
survived  his  injuries.  His  first  lieutenant  was  killed 
early  in  the  action  by  a  6-pound  shot  which  passed 
directly  through  his  chest,  while  the  second  lieutenant 
was  knocked  senseless  by  a  round  shot,  which  tore  off 
a  part  of  one  ear  and  much  of  the  skin.  The  French 
man's  total  loss  was  three  killed  and  nine  wounded, 
while  that  of  the  Enterprise  was  three  wounded. 

Sending  this  prize  to  St.  Kitts,  Lieutenant  Shaw 
continued  on  his  successful  cruise,  and  one  night  in 
July  he  discovered  what  afterward  proved  to  be  a  pri 
vateer  of  unusual  force.  As  the  stranger  seemed  to 
mistake  the  Enterprise  for  a  merchant  vessel,  he  was 
allowed  to  approach.  As  there  was  no  wind  the  enemy 
resorted  to  his  sweeps  and  gradually  drew  near,  but  be 
fore  he  came  to  close  quarters,  Lieutenant  Shaw  felt 
the  sea  breeze,  and  setting  every  inch  of  canvas  gave 
chase,  upon  which  the  Frenchman,  alarmed  by  this 
unexpected  willingness  to  engage,  made  off  under 
studding  sails,  with  a  view  of  keeping  his  distance 
until  he  could  determine  the  character  and  force  of 
his  opponent.  For  this  purpose  he  gradually  hauled 
up  and  boarded  his  starboard  tacks  without  hauling 
down  his  studding  sails,  which  were  set  on  both  sides, 
as  he  thought  that  his  brig  sailed  better  on  than  off 
the  wind  than  the  schooner  did.  This  brought  the 
Enterprise  in  his  wake,  and  as  she  was  an  unusually 
fast  sailer  she  quickly  came  within  musket  shot,  when 
an  animated  fire  of  small  arms  was  opened.  Finding 
that  he  outsailed  the  brig,  Lieutenant  Shaw  drew  off 
on  her  beam,  with  the  intention  of  bringing  his  battery 
into  play,  when  the  enemy  gave  a  sudden  yaw  and 
fired  his  broadside.  The  American  promptly  returned 
the  fire,  and  for  twenty  minutes  maintained  it  brisk- 


204:  THE  WAR   WITH  FRANCE  IN  1800.  1800. 

ly  at  pistol  shot.  Finding  that  he  was  getting  the 
worst  of  it  the  Frenchman  hauled  close  to  the  wind, 
came  round  on  the  other  tack,  and  made  sail  to  escape. 
The  Enterprise  promptly  followed,  but  in  coming 
around  she  missed  stays,  and  while  she  was  waiting  to 
gather  sufficient  headway  to  tack  the  enemy  gained  a 
considerable  lead.  But  it  was  not  long  before  the 
swift-sailing  Enterprise  again  overhauled  him,  and 
soon  after  she  reopened  the  action  at  pistol  shot.  The 
Frenchman's  fore-topmast  had  been  badly  wounded 
early  in  the  action,  and  six  of  his  crew  could  be 
seen  aloft  endeavoring  to  secure  it.  At  this  moment 
a  flaw  struck  the  brig  and  carried  away  the  spar  and 
the  sailors  who  were  on  it.  Without  waiting  to  rescue 
his  men,  the  Frenchman  put  his  helm  up  and  continued 
in  his  endeavor  to  escape,  while  the  Enterprise,  coming 
directly  upon  the  wreckage,  rounded  to  and  lowering 
a  boat  saved  the  unfortunate  men  clinging  to  it.  By 
this  delay  the  enemy  again  gained  a  lead,  but  the 
Enterprise  running  alongside  soon  compelled  the  brig 
to  strike,  after  an  exciting  action  of  forty  minutes. 
The  prize,  the  French  privateer  Flambeau,  was  con 
siderably  heavier  than  the  Enterprise,  mounting  twelve 
9-pounders  and  carrying  a  crew  of  one  hundred  and 
ten,  while  the  Enterprise  mounted  twelve  6-pounders 
and  was  manned  by  a  crew  of  eighty- three.  The 
Frenchman's  loss  in  killed  or  wounded  was  forty, 
while  that  of  the  American's  was  eight  or  ten. 

While  cruising  near  Antigua,  in  August,  this  lucky 
schooner,  after  a  chase  of  five  hours,  captured  the  pri 
vateer  Pauline,  of  six  guns  and  forty  men,  the  French 
consul  at  Porto  Rico  being  a  passenger  in  her ;  and 
in  the  following  month  she  took  the  letter  of  marque 
Guadaloupeenne,  carrying  seven  guns  and  forty -five 
men.  Aboard  of  her  was  found  the  same  French 
general  who  was  in  the  lugger  captured  by  the  Enter 
prise  some  weeks  before.  The  Enterprise  now  re 
turned  to  port,  having  secured,  in  a  cruise  of  six 


1800.  THE  CRUISE  OF  THE  EXPERIMENT.  205 

months,  eight  privateers  and  recaptured  four  American 
merchantmen.  The  privateers  aggregated  forty-seven 
guns  and  three  hundred  and  eighty -four  men.  Lieu 
tenant  Shaw  returned  to  the  United  States,  and  for  his 
brilliant  services  he  was  placed  in  command  of  the  26- 
gun  corvette  le  Berceau,  but  failing  health  compelled 
him  to  retire  from  active  command.  The  Enterprise 
was  placed  under  the  orders  of  Lieutenant  Charles 
Stewart. 

Scarcely  less  fortunate  than  the  Enterprise  was  her 
sister  schooner  the  Experiment,  Lieutenant  William 
Maley.  On  the  1st  of  January,  1800,  while  escorting 
several  merchantmen  near  the  island  of  Gonaive,  she 
was  becalmed,  and  while  in  this  conditipn  ten  picaroon 
barges,  each  containing  forty  men,  pulling  twenty-six 
oars,  with  swivels  in  the  bow  and  quarters,  came  out 
to  attack  her.  The  vessels  of  the  convoy  were  widely 
separated,  and  there  was  not  a  breath  of  air  stirring 
which  would  enable  them  to  manoeuvre.  After  a  hard 
fight  the  mulattoes  were  driven  off,  but  not  until  they 
had  captured  two  of  the  vessels.  Landing  their  dead 
and  wounded  and  taking  aboard  re-enforcements,  they 
returned  to  the  attack.  For  seven  long  hours  the 
people  in  the  remaining  vessels  of  the  convoy  made  a 
desperate  defense,  and  finally  drove  off  the  murderous 
picaroons  and  saved  themselves  from  a  horrible  fate. 
Two  of  the  barges  were  sunk,  while  the  loss  of  the 
picaroons  in  killed  or  wounded  must  have  been  heavy. 
The  Experiment  had  two  men  wounded,  one  of  whom 
was  Lieutenant  David  Porter. 

On  the  16th  of  July  Lieutenant  Charles  Stewart  was 
transferred  from  the  command  of  the  Enterprise  and 
placed  in  charge  of  the  Experiment,  and  in  a  few  days 
he  captured  the  French  schooner  Deux  Amis,  of  eight 
guns  and  carrying  from  forty  to  fifty  men.  Soon  after 
ward  the  Experiment  was  chased  by  a  French  18-gun 
brig  and  a  three-masted  schooner  of  sixteen  guns. 
Knowing  that  the  force  of  his  vessel  would  not  justify 


206  THE  WAR  WITH   FRANCE  IN   1800.  1300. 

an  action,  Lieutenant  Stewart  manifested  great  eager 
ness  to  escape,  hoping  thereby  to  lead  the  strangers  a 
long  chase  in  which  they  might  become  separated,  so 
that  he  could  attack  them  singly.  The  ruse  was  suc 
cessful,  and  by  evening  the  brig  was  far  in  advance  of 
her  consort.  Under  cover  of  night,  Lieutenant  Stewart 
allowed  the  brig  to  pass  him,  and  about  midnight  he 
ran  up  on  the  schooner's  weather  quarter  and  poured 
in  a  broadside.  The  consternation  produced  by  this 
unexpected  attack,  followed  up  by  a  close  and  rapid 
fire,  in  a  short  time  compelled  the  enemy  to  sur 
render.  First-Lieutenant  David  Porter,  with  a  prize 
crew,  was  placed  in  the  schooner,  the  prisoners  were 
secured  in  the  bold,  and  then  both  vessels  made  sail  in 
search  of  the  brig.  But  that  vessel,  alarmed  by  the 
unlooked-for  attack  in  the  rear,  had  made  her  escape. 
The  prize  was  la  Diane,  commanded  by  M.  Perradeau, 
a  privateer  carrying  fourteen  guns  and  sixty  men. 
Among  the  prisoners  were  General  Bigand,  thirty  in 
valid  soldiers,  and  the  first  lieutenant  of  the  Insurgent 
during  her  action  with  the  Constellation,  who  also  had 
been  the  prize  officer  of  the  Retaliation. 

Before  the  season  closed  the  Experiment  had  a 
night  action  with  a  strange  sail  that  gives  some  idea  of 
the  hardships  and  danger  encountered  by  the  men  who 
manned  these  little  cruisers.  During  heavy  weather  on 
the  night  of  November  16th,  the  Experiment  was  put 
under  storm  sail,  and  even  with  this  she  was  scudding 
along  at  nine  knots.  Shortly  before  midnight  the  look 
out  reported  a  suspicious  sail  off  the  weather  bow.  As 
the  schooner  was  heeling  over  so  much  that  her  guns 
were  useless,  it  was  necessary  to  chock  up  the  carriages 
until  the  weather  broadside  guns  became  sufficiently 
depressed  to  bear  on  the  stranger.  By  the  time  this 
was  done  the  vessels  were  within  gunshot  and  opened 
a  heavy  fire,  and  in  the  course  of  a  few  minutes  the 
stranger  surrendered ;  but  when  First-Lieutenant  David 
Porter  was  sent  aboard  to  take  possession,  it  was  found 


1800.  GALLANT  DEFENSE  OF  THE  LOUISA.  207 

that  the  prize  was  the  English  privateer  Louisa 
Bridger,  armed  with  eight  9-pounders  and  carrying  a 
crew  of  about  forty-five  men.  She  was  badly  injured, 
and  had  four  feet  of  water  in  her  hold.  Her  command 
er  was  severely  wounded  early  in  the  action,  while  the 
Experiment  had  one  man  killed  and  one  boy  wounded. 
On  discovering  the  mistake  the  Americans  made  every 
possible  reparation. 

While  the  little  marine  force  of  the  United  States 
was  waging  a  successful  war  in  the  West  Indies,  a  spir 
ited  action  took  place  off  the  coast  of  Spain  between 
an  American  privateer  from  Philadelphia  called  the 
Louisa  and  several  French  vessels  which  came  out  of 
Algeciras  for  the  purpose  of  cutting  her  off.  During 
the  desultory  engagement  that  followed,  a  lateen-rigged 
craft  filled  with  men  made  several  desperate  attempts 
to  board  but  was  successfully  repelled.  Before  the 
enemy  gave  up  the  fight  the  commander  of  the  Louisa 
was  shot  through  the  shoulder,  and  while  the  mate 
was  taking  him  into  his  cabin  the  crew  deserted  the 
guns,  and,  with  the  exception  of  the  man  at  the  wheel, 
went  below.  At  this  moment  the  enemy,  noticing  the 
confusion,  made  a  final  effort  to  board ;  and  when  the 
mate  returned  to  the  deck  he  found  the  privateer  close 
alongside,,  with  her  forecastle  and  long  bowsprit  swarm 
ing  with  men  in  readiness  to  spring  aboard  the  Louisa. 
The  situation  was  critical,  but  the  mate  came  from  a 
city  noted  for  bold  and  skillful  seamen,  and,  taking  in 
the  situation  at  a  glance,  the  Philadelphian  rushed  to 
the  forward  hatchway  and  called  on  his  men  to  come 
up  and  take  a  last  shot  at  the  retreating  Frenchmen. 
The  ruse  had  the  desired  effect,  and  the  crew  came 
tumbling  up  on  deck  and  was  immediately  sent  to 
quarters.  A  destructive  fire  was  now  opened  on  the 
privateer,  which  swept  many  of  her  men  from  her  bow 
sprit  and  forecastle,  and,  supposing  that  the  confusion 
of  a  few  minutes  before  was  but  a  stratagem  to  inveigle 
her  into  an  attempt  to  board,  she  hauled  off  and  re- 


208  THE   WAR   WITH   FRANCE  IN   1800.  1800. 

joined  her  discomfited  consorts.  The  Louisa  sailed 
into  Gibraltar  in  triumph,  and  was  greeted  with  enthu 
siasm  by  the  thousands  of  people  who  had  witnessed 
the  action  from  the  Rock. 

In  March,  while  engaged  in  towing  a  merchant  ship 
near  Gonaive  Island,  the  Boston,  Captain  George  Lit 
tle,  discovered  nine  picaroon  barges  pulling  from  the 
land  to  attack  him.  Running  in  his  guns,  Captain 
Little  took  every  precaution  to  deceive  the  marauders 
as  to  the  character  of  his  ship.  On  came  the  barges, 
pulled  by  twenty  oars  and  manned  by  thirty  to  forty 
men  each,  but  before  they  approached  as  near  as  could 
be  desired  they  discovered  their  mistake  and  made 
every  exertion  to  regain  the  land.  The  Boston  then 
cast  off  her  tow  and  filled  away  in  pursuit.  The  chase 
lasted  two  hours,  during  which  time  the  Americans 
held  the  picaroons  under  their  guns  and  exterminated 
three  boat  loads  of  them. 

At  five  o'clock  in  the  morning  of  the  12th  of  the 
following  October  the  Boston,  being  in  longitude  51° 
West,  latitude  22°  55'  North,  discovered  a  sail  to  the 
south.  The  breeze  was  light  and  varying  from  east- 
northeast  to  southeast.  The  Boston  was  standing  for 
the  stranger,  when  shortly  afterward  the  lookout  re 
ported  another  sail  to  the  southeast.  By  6.  A.  M.  the 
first  sail  was  seen  to  be  a  corvette  and  the  second  a 
schooner.  When  the  first  stranger  made  the  Boston 
out  as  a  vessel  of  war  she  immediately  signaled  her 
consort  to  make  all  sail  to  escape,  at  the  same  time  set 
ting  a  good  example.  Captain  Little  under  a  press  of 
sail  stood  for  the  schooner,  which  was  making  after  the 
corvette  on  the  starboard  tack,  but  the  schooner  soon 
proved  her  superior  sailing  on  this  point  by  passing 
her  consort,  and  at  10  A.  M.  was  hull  down.  The  Bos 
ton,  however,  continued  the  chase,  hoping  to  overtake 
the  corvette,  which  was  le  Berceau,  commanded  by 
Andre  Senez,  who  had  served  as  a  midshipman  under 
Count  D'Estaing  during  the  war  of  the  American  Revo- 


1800.  THE  BOSTON  AND  THE  BERCEAU.  2Q9 

lution  and  was  considered  one  of  the  bravest  officers 
of  the  French  marine.  By  11  A.  M.  the  American  ship 
had  gained  perceptibly,  and  at  noon  she  was  only  a 
league  astern.  The  chase  then  began  to  relieve  herself 
by  cutting  away  an  anchor  and  throwing  overboard 
other  heavy  articles  ;  but  in  spite  of  these  efforts  the 
Frenchman  lost  ground,  and  at  2  P.  M.  he  resorted  to 
the  extreme  measure  of  throwing  overboard  ballast, 
the  second  boat  and  the  spare  masts.  This  effort  also 
proved  futile,  and  at  3.30  P.  M.  the  Boston,  having 
hoisted  her  colors,  fired  two  shot,  upon  which  the 
stranger  showed  French  colors  and  fired  a  shot  from 
one  of  his  stern  chasers. 

Fifteen  minutes  later  Captain  Little,  being  within 
hailing  distance  of  the  corvette,  inquired  what  port 
she  came  from,  to  which  her  commander  replied, 
"Cayenne."  Captain  Little  then  asked,  " Where  are 
you  going?"  and  received  in  reply,  " Cruising."  He 
then  ordered  the  Frenchman  to  strike,  but  the  latter 
answered  with  an  emphatic  "Never!"  The  Boston 
then  ranged  up  on  the  enemy's  starboard  side  and  be 
gan  the  action  at  pistol  shot.  The  corvette  responded 
with  admirable  promptness,  and  also  displayed  much 
more  accuracy  in  her  gunnery  than  either  the  Insur 
gent  or  the  Vengeance. 

The  story  of  this  remarkable  sea  fight  is  best  told 
in  the  words  of  one  of  the  officers  of  the  French  cor 
vette,  Second-Lieutenant  Louis  Marie  Clement,  whose 
official  account  of  the  action  was  discovered  by  the 
author  in  the  archives  of  the  Department  of  the  Marine 
and  Colonies  in  1886  : 

"  At  five  o'clock  in  the  morning  we  noticed  a  sail 
ahead  of  us  at  a  league  and  three  quarters  distance. 
Immediately  we  signaled  it  to  the  schooner  to  the 
southeast  and  kept  away  a  little.  A  short  time  after 
we  found  out  that  the  vessel  we  had  sighted  was  a 
large  war  vessel.  We  at  once  wore  around  and  sig 
naled  the  schooner  to  do  the  same,  and  a  moment  later 


210  THE  WAR  WITH  FRANCE  IN  1800.  1800. 

the  stranger  imitated  our  actions.  At  six  o'clock  the 
vessel,  which  we  found  to  be  a  frigate,  was  in  our  wake, 
the  schooner  being  a  little  to  windward  of  us.  At  half 
past  six  a  general  and  decided  rallying  was  signaled  to 
the  schooner.  At  this  instant  the  frigate  hauled  her 
wind  in  chase  of  the  schooner,  which  immediately  came 
to  the  wind,  close  hauled  on  the  starboard  tack.  We 
kept  away  a  little  more,  bringing  the  wind  aft ;  the 
frigate  hugged  tne  wind,  but  the  schooner  gained  on 
her.  At  eight  o'clock  the  frigate,  seeing  that  she  was 
not  overhauling  the  schooner,  kept  away  toward  us. 
We  continued  before  the  wind,  which  we  knew  from 
experience  was  our  best  point  of  sailing.  At  ten  o'clock 
the  schooner  had  disappeared ;  the  frigate  was  still 
chasing  us  and  was  gaining  a  little.  By  eleven  o'clock 
she  had  gained  still  more,  and  at  noon  we  perceived 
that  she  had  a  decided  advantage  over  us,  upon  which 
we  relieved  our  ship  by  throwing  overboard  the  waist- 
anchor.  The  frigate  was  now  about  a  league  astern  of 
us.  At  half  past  twelve,  their  advantage  being  more 
obvious,  we  threw  overboard  many  articles  which  might 
impede  our  progress ;  and  at  two  o'clock,  the  frigate 
having  gained  considerably  on  us,  we  threw  overboard 
what  remained  of  the  ballast,  also  the  second  cutter 
and  the  life-raft,  but  we  still  retained  two  spare  masts. 
"  At  half  past  three  o'clock  the  frigate  hoisted  the 
American  flag  and  pennant  and  fired  twice.  We  at 
once  hoisted  French  colors  and  pennant  and  answered 
by  a  single  cannon  shot.  The  frigate,  at  a  quarter  to 
four,  being  within  speaking  distance,  asked  us  whence 
we  came.  A  moment  later  she  fired  on  us,  and  ranging 
along  our  port  side  within  pistol  shot  the  battle  began 
in  a  most  spirited  manner  on  both  sides.  The  musketry 
was  very  sharp  and  well  sustained,  the  only  delays  be 
ing  to  reload  the  pieces.  The  battery  also  was  served 
with  the  greatest  activity,  and  the  cry  of  '  Vive  la  Ee- 
publique  ! '  was  often  heard  during  the  battle.  At  six 
o'clock  our  topgallantmasts  were  seriously  wounded, 


1800.  THE   BOSTON  AND  THE  BERCEAU.  211 

the  shrouds  were  cut  through,  and  the  yards,  sails  and 
lower  masts  were  riddled  with  shot.  At  five  minutes 
after  six  o'  clock  the  frigate  dropped  astern,  having  her 
topsail  ties  cut  and  the  yards  on  the  caps.  We  boarded 
our  fore  and  main  tacks  and  came  by  the  wind.  The 
frigate  from  this  moment  ceased  firing,  and  we  worked 
without  ceasing  at  repairing  damages. 

"At  half  past  eight  o'clock  the  frigate  again  at 
tacked  us  and  we  discharged  a  broadside.  From  that 
time  the  action  was  renewed  with  great  ferocity  at 
pistol  shot.  At  half  past  nine  o'clock  the  captain, 
seeing  a  favorable  opportunity  of  boarding  the  frigate, 
gave  the  order,  and  the  crew  only  awaited  the  chance, 
and  our  vessel  manoeuvred  to  favor  the  attempt.  The 
frigate,  however,  took  care  not  to  allow  herself  to  be 
boarded,  and  the  action  continued  at  pistol  range  up 
to  eleven  o'clock,  when  the  frigate  again  hauled  off  to 
repair  damages.  We  again  set  our  courses,  a  short 
time  after  which  our  jib  boom  was  carried  away  and  the 
topmasts  followed.  At  this  time  our  shrouds  and  back 
stays  were  nearly  all  cut  through,  and  the  two  spare 
topmasts  had  also  been  cut  upon  the  gallows  frame. 
We  therefore  found  ourselves  without  the  possibility 
of  repairing,  but  we  nevertheless  made  as  much  sail  as 
we  could.  The  frigate  also  was  much  damaged  in  her 
sails  and  rigging,  and  she  remained  out  of  gunshot  but 
always  in  sight. 

"  At  five  o'clock  the  next  morning  nobody  had  yet 
left  his  post  and  we  expected  every  moment  a  third 
attack,  when  the  frigate  passed  us  to  the  starboard  at 
a  great  distance,  and  placed  herself  to  leeward  of  us 
at  half  a  league  distance.  In  the  course  of  the  morn 
ing  we  saw  that  she  was  working  at  repairs.  At  half 
past  eleven  o'clock  our  foremast,  pierced  with  shot, 
fell  to  starboard,  and  a  short  time  afterward  the  main 
mast  also  fell.  At  two  o'clock  in  the  afternoon  the 
frigate,  which  had  now  finished  repairs,  came  up  to  us 
on  the  starboard  side.  Our  captain  then  assembled 


212  THE  WAR  WITH  FRANCE  IN   1800.  1800. 

the  council  necessary  in  such  cases.  All  that  were 
called  to  the  council  thought  that  the  dismasted  ship — 
having  its  battery  encumbered  with  the  fallen  masts, 
many  shot  holes  at  the  water  line,  which  already  caused 
her  to  make  seven  inches  of  water  an  hour,  as  well  as 
many  other  serious  damages — could  no  longer  keep  up 
the  combat  against  the  frigate  without  further  sacri 
ficing  the  lives  of  the  men,  who  were  now  unable  to 
defend  themselves.  Besides  this,  the  honorable  man 
ner  in  which  they  had  fought  had  sufficiently  proved 
how  much  they  had  had  at  heart  to  preserve  to  the 
Republic  the  sloop  which  had  been  confided  to  their 
care  ;  but  having  done  all  that  was  possible  to  prevent 
its  capture  they  ought  to  give  in  to  superior  forces. 
It  was  then  unanimously  decided  that,  without  making 
further  resistance,  the  flag  should  be  hauled  down. 
Accordingly  it  was  struck  at  once,  and  immediately 
the  frigate  sent  a  boat  to  take  possession.  We  found 
her  to  be  the  United  States  frigate  Boston,  Captain 
George  Little.  "[Signed]  CLEMENT. 

SALLERON. 

"Four  killed  and  seventeen  wounded.  Seven  hun 
dred  cannon  shot  expended  and  two  thousand  one  hun 
dred  musket  shot." 

The  Boston  carried  twenty-four  long  12-pounders 
and  twelve  long  9-pounders,  or  three  hundred  and  sixty- 
eight  actual  pounds  of  metal.  Out  of  a  crew  of  two 
hundred  and  thirty  she  lost  four  killed  and  eleven 
wounded.  The  Berceau  carried  twenty- two  long 
8-pounders  and  two  short  12-pou.nders,1  or  two  hun 
dred  and  sixteen  English  pounds  of  metal.  Out  of  a 
crew  of  two  hundred  and  twenty  she  lost  four  killed 
and  seventeen  wounded. 

Comparative  force  and  loss. 

Guns.  Lbs.  Crew.      Killed.    Wounded.  Total. 

Boston:  36  368  230          4  11  15 

Berceau:  24  216  220          4  17  21 

1  Official  report  of  Second-Lieutenant  Clement. 


The  Boston  capturing  the  Berceau. 


1801.  THF  BOSTON  AND  THE  BERCEAU.  213 

The  Berceau  was  in  a  deplorable  condition.  She 
was  completely  dismasted,  the  wreck  covering  her  guns 
and  decks,  while  many  shot  had  taken  effect  at  the 
water  line,  causing  her  to  leak  dangerously.  Captain 
Little  returned  to  port  with  his  prize  in  safety.  The 
flag  of  the  Berceau  is  now  in  the  Naval  Institute  Build 
ing  at  Annapolis. 

On  the  3d  of  February,  1801,  a  treaty  of  peace, 
which  had  been  under  negotiations  for  some  time,  was 
ratified  by  the  Senate,  and  on  the  23d  of  the  same 
month  the  Herald,  Master  -  Commandant  Charles  C. 
Russell,  was  dispatched  to  the  West  Indies  to  recall 
the  cruisers  on  the  station.  By  the  terms  of  the  treaty 
all  Government  vessels  of  war  captured  on  either  side 
were  to  be  restored,  and  under  this  provision  the  Ber 
ceau  and  the  Vengeance,  a  small  cruiser  taken  by  the 
Trumbull,  were  released.  The  Insurgent,  the  remain 
ing  national  war  vessel  taken  from  the  French,  had 
been  lost  the  year  before. 

This  two  and  a  half  years  of.  naval  war  with  France 
had  been  conducted  in  a  manner  that  was  highly  cred 
itable  to  the  little  navy  of  the  United  States.  Eighty- 
four  armed  French  vessels,  nearly  all  of  them  priva 
teers,  mounting  over  five  hundred  guns,  had  been 
captured.  Of  these,  eight  were  released,  besides  the 
Berceau  and  the  Vengeance,  as  having  been  illegally 
seized ;  one,  le  Croyable,  was  recaptured,  and  the  re 
maining  vessels  were  condemned  and  sold.  Nearly  all 
these  captures  were  made  by  Government  cruisers,  as 
few  American  privateers  got  to  sea  during  this  war. 
No  vessel  of  the  navy  was  taken  by  the  enemy  except 
the  Retaliation. 

The  exports  of  the  country  under  the  protection  of 
this  marine  force  increased  from  $57,000,000  in  1797, 
when  not  a  single  American  cruiser  was  in  commission, 
to  $78,665,528  in  1799,  and  the  revenue  on  imports 
rose  from  $6,000,000  in  1797  to  $9,080,932  in  1800. 


CHAPTER  IY. 

THE   BEGINNING   OF   THE   WAR   WITH   TRIPOLI. 

THE  defeat  of  John  Adams  for  re-election  to  the 
presidency  of  the  United  States  in  1800  led  many  to 
believe  that  the  navy  would  be  reduced  to  a  minimum, 
if  not  done  away  with  altogether,  for  it  was  under  his 
administration  that  the  Department  of  the  Navy  was 
established  and  the  new  navy  created.  Thomas  Jeffer 
son  represented  the  extreme  Republican  view  of  gov 
ernment,  which  was  as  much  opposed  to  a  permanent 
navy  as  the  country  at  large  objected  to  a  standing 
army ;  and  as  he  entered  upon  his  term  of  office 
twenty-nine  days  after  the  treaty  of  peace  with  France 
was  ratified  by  the  Senate,  many  believed  that  the 
young  navy  was  doomed.  But  such  a  hold  had  the 
gallant  little  marine  force  of  the  United  States  taken 
on  the  people,  and  so  indispensable  had  it  proved 
itself  to  the  dignity,  safety  and  economical  adminis 
tration  of  the  Government,  that  the  new  President, 
while  making  radical  changes  in  the  precedents  estab 
lished  in  almost  every  other  department,  left  the  navy 
practically  unimpaired.  John  Adams  himself  could 
not  have  placed  the  navy  on  a  peace  footing  with  more 
regard  for  its  future  development  than  his  successor 
did.  At  the  time  when  peace  was  proclaimed  the  navy 
numbered  thirty-four  vessels,  of  which  fifteen,  repre 
senting  four  fifths  of  its  strength,  were  retained  in  the 
service,  while  the  remaining  vessels,  most  of  which  had 
been  merchantmen  purchased  for  the  emergency,  were 
sold,  and  the  number  of  officers  was  reduced  to  nine 

(214)    • 


1785-1798.    TRIBUTE  TO  THE  STATES  OF   BARBARY.          215 

captains,  thirty-six  lieutenants  and  one  hundred  and 
fifty  midshipmen.1 

The  new  administration  had  been  in  office  only  a 
short  time  when  the  necessity  of  a  permanent  and  ade 
quate  navy  was  shown  in  a  most  emphatic  manner. 
As  has  already  been  seen,  the  piratical  States  of  Bar- 
bary  were  not  long  in  discovering  that  a  new  nation 
with  a  commerce  had  sprung  into  existence,  and  in 
1785  two  American  vessels  were  seized  by  them  and 
twenty-one  citizens  were  thrown  into  slavery.  These 
unfortunate  people  were  ransomed  for  $59,496  (Spanish 
milled  dollars),  and  on  the  payment  of  tribute  depre 
dations  in  this  quarter  for  a  time  ceased.  But  this 
tame  submission  only  served  to  stimulate  the  cupidity 
of  the  semibarbarians,  and  having  so  easily  obtained 
the  inch  of  tribute  they  proceeded  to  extort  the  ell. 

The  following  extract  from  an  American  periodical, 
published  in  1798,  throws  some  light  on  the  humili 
ating  position  of  the  nation  before  that  patriotic  senti 
ment,  "Millions  for  defense  ;  not  a  penny  for  tribute ! " 
rang  through  the  halls  of  Congress  and  stirred  the 
members  to  action:  "Portsmouth,  January  20,  1798. 
On  Thursday  morning  about  sunrise  a  gun  was  dis 
charged  from  the  frigate  Orescent  as  a  signal  for  getting 
under  way,  and  at  10  A.  M.  she  cleared  the  harbor  with  a 
fine  leading  breeze.  Our  best  wishes  follow  Captain 
Newman,  his  officers  and  men.  May  they  arrive  in  safety 
at  the  place  of  their  destination,  and  present  to  the 
Dey  of  Algiers  one  of  the  finest  specimens  of  elegant 
naval  architecture  which  was  ever  borne  on  the  Pis- 
cataqua's  waters.  The  Crescent  is  a  present  from  the 

1  The  cruisers  retained  were  the  44-gun  frigate  Constitution,  the  44-gun 
frigate  President,  the  44-gun  frigate  United  States,  the  36-gun  frigate 
Chesapeake,  the  36-gun  frigate  Congress,  the  36-gun  frigate  Constellation, 
the  36-gun  frigate  New  York,  the  36-gun  frigate  Philadelphia,  the  32-gun 
frigate  Essex,  the  28-gun  corvette  Adams,  the  28-gun  corvette  Boston,  the 
28-gun  corvette  General  Greene,  the  28-gun  corvette  John  Adams,  the  24- 
gun  sloop  of  war  George  Washington  and  the  12-gun  schooner  Enterprise. 


216      THE  BEGINNING  OF  THE   WAR  WITH  TRIPOLI.     1800. 

United  States  to  the  Dey  as  a  compensation  for  delay 
in  not  fulfilling  our  treaty  stipulations  in  proper  time. 
Richard  O'Brien,  Esq.,  who  was  ten  years  a  prisoner  at 
Algiers,  took  passage  in  the  above  frigate,  and  is  to 
reside  at  Algiers  as  Consul-General  of  the  United  States 
to  all  the  Barbary  States.  The  Orescent  has  many 
valuable  presents  on  board  for  the  Dey,  and  when  she 
sailed  was  supposed  to  be  worth  at  least  three  hundred 
thousand  dollars.  Twenty- six  barrels  of  dollars  con 
stituted  a  part  of  her  cargo.  It  is  worthy  of  remark 
that  the  captain,  chief  of  the  officers,  and  many  of  the 
privates  of  the  Crescent  frigate  have  been  prisoners  at 
Algiers." 

But  these  presents  had  a  far  different  effect  from 
that  intended,  for  the  other  States  of  Barbary  beheld 
with  envious  eyes  the  frigate  Crescent,  and,  observing 
the  rich  and  unprotected  commerce  of  the  United 
States  in  the  Mediterranean,  they  insolently  demanded 
similar  gifts  and  a  proportionate  tribute.  Early  in 
1800  Jessuf  Karamauli,  Bashaw  of  Tripoli,  informed 
the  American  consul,  Mr.  Cathcart,  "that  the  Sahib- 
tappa  at  Tunis  had  received  more  than  forty  thousand 
dollars  from  the  United  States  in  cash,  besides  pres 
ents,  that  he  had  received  very  little  more,  and  that  he 
had  never  imagined  that  the  United  States  meant  to 
put  him  on  an  equality  with  one  of  the  Bey  of  Tunis' 
ministers."  The  Bashaw  further  showed  his  arrogance 
in  a  letter  to  the  President,  dated  March  5,  1800. 
After  giving  numerous  statistics  to  show  that  other 
States  received  quite  as  much  as  himself,  he  concluded  : 
"  But,  our  sincere  friend,  we  could  wish  that  these  your 
expressions  were  followed  by  deeds  and  not  empty 
words.  You  will  therefore  endeavor  to  satisfy  us  by  a 
good  manner  of  proceeding.  We,  on  our  part,  will 
correspond  with  you  with  equal  friendship  as  well  as 
deeds.  But  if  only  flattering  words  are  meant,  with 
out  performance,  every  one  will  act  as  he  finds  con 
venient.  We  beg  a  speedy  answer  without  neglect  of 


1801.  ENGLAND'S  MEDITERRANEAN  POLICY.  217 

time,  as  a  delay  on  your  part  can  not  but  be  prejudicial 
to  your  interests." 

As  the  President's  "manner  of  proceeding"  was 
not  satisfactory,  the  Bashaw  sent  his  prime  minister 
to  Mr.  Cathcart  with  the  notice  that  war  had  been  de 
clared  against  the  United  States,  and  that  the  American 
consul  was  no  longer  recognized  at  Tripoli.  On  the 
14th  of  May,  1801,  the  American  flagstaff  was  cut  down. 
The  Bey  of  Tunis  also  became  imperative  in  his  de 
mands,  and  he  complained  that  some  of  the  planks 
and  oars  which  had  been  sent  to  him  were  too  short. 
In  a  letter  to  the  President,  April  15,  1801,  he  asked 
for  forty  cannon  of  different  calibers,  and  in  June 
demanded  of  the  American  consul  at  Tunis,  William 
Eaton,  ten  thousand  stands  of  arms,  saying,  "Tell  your 
Government  to  send  them  without  delay ;  peace  de 
pends  on  compliance." 

At  first  blush  we  are  surprised  to  find  the  leading  na 
val  powers  of  Europe  for  so  many  years  paying  tribute 
to  the  piratical  States  of  Barbary,  but,  turning  to  the 
records  of  Parliament  of  that  period,  we  come  across 
documents  that  explain  the  whole  matter.  England's 
aim  was  to  secure  a  monopoly  of  the  carrying  trade  and 
commerce  of  the  world,  and  in  furtherance  of  this  pur 
pose  she  encouraged  the  pirates  of  the  Mediterranean, 
so  that,  with  the  aid  of  her  fleet  and  by  paying  them  a 
small  tribute,  her  commerce  was  unmolested  while  that 
of  weaker  maritime  nations  was  constantly  harassed. 
By  acknowledging  the  independence  of  the  United 
States,  England  admitted  a  dangerous  competitor  to 
this  trade,  and  in  a  few  years  American  shipping 
reached  a  million  tons.  The  means  Great  Britain  took 
to  cut  off  this  competitor  is  seen  in  the  following  ex 
tract  from  a  speech  made  by  Lord  Sheffield  in  Parlia 
ment  in  1784  :  "It  is  not  probable  that  the  American 
States  will  have  a  very  free  trade  in  the  Mediterranean. 
It  will  not  be  to  the  interest  of  any  of  the  great  mari 
time  powers  to  protect  them  from  the  Barbary  States. 


218      THE  BEGINNING  OF   THE  WAR  WITH  TRIPOLI.     1793. 

If  they  know  their  interests,  they  will  not  encourage 
the  Americans  to  be  carriers.  That  the  Barbary  States 
are  advantageous  to  maritime  powers  is  certain.  If 
they  are  suppressed,  the  little  States  of  Italy  would 
have  much  more  of  the  carrying  trade." 

A  good  illustration  of  the  unscrupulous  manner  in 
which  England  carried  out  her  maritime  policy  was 
given  in  1793.  For  several  years  Portugal  had  been 
carrying  on  an  active  war  against  Algiers,  and  she  had 
confined  the  depredations  of  these  rovers  to  the  Medi 
terranean.  As  this  gave  protection  to  American  com 
merce  outside  of  that  sea,  the  British  agent  at  Algiers, 
without  authority  from  Portugal,  brought  about  a 
twelve  months'  truce,  and  incorporated  in  the  docu 
ment  this  extraordinary  clause — "that  the  Portuguese 
Government  should  not  afford  protection  to  any  na 
tion  against  Algerian  cruisers."  As  this  truce  was  to 
go  into  operation  immediately,  no  opportunity  was 
given  to  warn  American  or  other  merchantmen  of  it, 
and  the  robbers  were  suddenly  released  and  reaped  a 
golden  harvest.  In  the  face  of  the  stipulation  that 
Portugal  should  afford  no  protection  to  any  other  na 
tion  against  Algerian  corsairs,  the  British  ministry 
disclaimed  any  intention  of  injuring  American  com 
merce,  but  their  hypocrisy  was  only  too  plainly  shown 
in  the  large  number  of  our  merchantmen  that  were  im 
mediately  seized  and  thrown  into  Mussulman  bondage. 
When  David  Humphreys,  the  American  commissioner, 
endeavored  to  treat  with  the  Dey,  the  latter,  breathing 
the  true  spirit  of  Lord  Sheffield's  policy,  said:  "If  I 
were  to  make  peace  with  every  nation,  what  should  I 
do  with  my  corsairs  ?  My  soldiers  can  not  live  on  their 
miserable  allowance." 

Under  such  fostering  care  it  is  not  suprising  that 
piracy  flourished  in  the  Mediterranean  ;  and  as  the 
buccaneers  were  generally  of  the  Mohammedan  faith, 
their  attacks  were  directed  against  Christians.  For 
two  centuries  the  northern  shores  of  the  Mediterranean 


1516-1800. 


PIRACY  A  STATE  INSTITUTION. 


219 


had  been  devastated  by  these  pests ;  for,  emboldened 
by  their  success  on  the  sea,  they  frequently  landed  at 
night  and  destroyed  whole  villages,  carrying  off  the 
men  to  a  horrible  servitude  to  await  ransom,  while  the 
women  were  sold  in  the  slave  marts  of  the  East.  Some 
of  the  greatest  fortifications  along  the  northern  coast  of 
Africa  were  constructed  by  Christian  slaves  in  Mussul 
man  bondage,  the  mole  at  Algiers  representing  the 
labor  of  thirty  thousand  Christians. 

Piracy  was  made  a  state  institution  at  Tripoli,  to 
ward  the  close  of  the  seventeenth  century,  by  the  cele- 


Algiers. 

brated  pirate  Dragut,  who  was  appointed  first  gov 
ernor  of  the  province  by  Sultan  Suleyman  II.  The 
Karamauli  dynasty  of  pirates  was  established  in  1713 
by  Hamet  Karamauli,  a  Moorish  chief,  his  lineal  de 
scendant  Jessuf  reigning  at  Tripoli  in  1800.  Piracy 
was  instituted  at  Algiers  in  1516  by  the  famous  Turkish 
pirate  Aruch  Barbarossa.  On  the  northern  shore  of 


220      THE   BEGINNING  OF  THE   WAR  WITH   TRIPOLI.     1800. 

the  Mediterranean  to-day  can  be  seen  the  ruins  of 
watch  towers  which  were  built  to  discover  the  approach 
of  Barbary  pirates  and  to  give  the  alarm  to  the  in 
habitants. 

In  May,  1800,  the  George  Washington,  Captain  Wil 
liam  Bainbridge,  was  ordered  to  the  Mediterranean  to 
convey  the  annual  tribute  to  the  Dey  of  Algiers.  She 
reached  her  destination  in  September  and  anchored 
under  the  guns  of  the  batteries.  After  the  tribute  had 
been  transferred  to  Mr.  O'Brien,  the  American  consul, 
the  Dey  requested  that  the  frigate  be  placed  at  his  dis 
posal,  as  he  wished  to  send  presents  to  the  Sultan  at 
Constantinople.  Algiers,  like  other  States  of  Barbary, 
was  a  conquered  province  under  tribute  to  the  Sultan. 
The  Dey  and  all  officials  under  him,  with  five  thou 
sand  Turkish  soldiers,  were  sent  from  Constantinople  to 
govern  the  province  and  to  be  answerable  to  the  Sultan 
only  for  so  much  tribute  annually,  which  was  extorted 
from  the  native  population  and  from  his  American  and 
European  tributaries  in  whatever  manner  he  saw  fit. 
Just  before  the  arrival  of  the  American  frigate  the 
Dey  had  seriously  offended  the  Sublime  Porte  by 
making  a  treaty  with  France  at  a  time  when  Turkey 
and  her  ally,  Great  Britain,  were  carrying  on  a  war 
against  Napoleon  Bonaparte  in  Egypt,  and  the  Dey 
was  anxious  to  forward,  with  all  possible  dispatch, 
presents  to  the  val  ue  of  five  or  six  hundred  thousand 
dollars,  besides  upward  of  two  hundred  envoys,  to 
propitiate  the  wrath  of  the  Sultan. 

The  American  commander  declined  to  have  the 
George  Washington  used  in  such  a  service,  upon  which 
the  Dey  put  his  request  in  the  form  of  a  demand,  threat 
ening  at  the  same  time  to  blow  the  ship  out  of  water  if  it 
were  not  complied  with.  Mr.  O'Brien,  whose  long  ac 
quaintance  with  Mussulman  politics  entitled  his  opin 
ion  in  these  matters  to  consideration,  advised  Captain 
Bainbridge  to  acquiesce,  as  refusal  would  result  in  a 
declaration  of  v7ar.  The  consul  furthermore  said  that 


1800.    MOHAMMEDAN  WORSHIP  IN  THE  WASHINGTON.     221 

English,  French  and  Spanish  frigates  had  complied 
with  similar  requests.  The  Dey's  argument,  "  You  pay 
me  tribute,  by  which  you  become  my  slaves ;  I  have 
therefore  a  right  to  order  you  as  I  may  think  proper," 
together  with  his  batteries,  compelled  obedience,  and 
brought  home  to  the  American  officers  the  bitter  hu 
miliation  of  their  country's  position. 

At  the  moment  of  sailing  another  difficulty  arose. 
The  Dey  insisted  that  the  American  flag  at  the  main 
mast  should  give  place  to  the  Algerian,  but  he  intimated 
that  the  American  colors  might  fly  at  the  foremast,  if 
that  harmless  concession  wrould  tend  to  soothe  his 
spirited  tributaries.  This  led  to  another  dispute,  but 
as  the  frigate  was  under  the  guns  of  the  batteries 
and  the  Mussulmans  refused  to  allow  her  to  move, 
this  last  indignity  was  submitted  to.  Accordingly, 
on  the  9th  of  October  the  George  Washington  set 
sail  with  the  flag  of  Algiers  over  her ;  but  scarcely 
had  she  passed  beyond  the  reach  of  the  Moorish  bat 
teries,  when  the  Algerian  colors  were  hauled  down 
and  once  again  the  Starry  Flag  floated  over  the 
frigate. 

The  passage  to  the  Bosphorus  was  particularly  dis 
agreeable  to  the  American  officers,  while  the  interrup 
tions  to  the  duties  of  the  ship  by  the  frequent  devo 
tions  of  the  Mussulmans  proved  another  source  of 
annoyance.  Besides  other  religious  ceremonies,  they 
prayed  five  times  a  day,  and  always  with  their  faces 
toward  Mecca.  As  the  ship  frequently  tacked  while 
they  were  thus  engaged,  they  were  as  often  obliged  to 
change  their  positions  ;  and  so  scrupulous  were  they 
that  they  appointed  one  of  their  number  to  consult  the 
compass  at  every  change  in  the  ship's  course,  in  order 
to  get  the  right  direction.  The  American  tar  is  not  an 
irreverent  fellow  as  a  rule,  but  his  love  for  a  joke 
usually  gets  the  better  of  his  prudence ;  and  on  one 
occasion  when  the  ship  tacked,  the  seamen  at  the  wheel 
reversed  the  points  of  the  compass  when  the  Mussulman 


222     THE  BEGINNING  OF  THE  WAR  WITH  TRIPOLI.     1800. 

committee  of  one  came  to  get  his  spiritual  bearings, 
and  so  made  these  devout  Turks  worship  with  their 
backs  toward  Mecca.  When  the  error  was  discov 
ered  a  howl  of  rage  burst  from  the  devotees,  and 
from  that  time  on  they  stationed  several  of  their  keen- 
eyed  brethren  behind  the  helmsmen  to  see  that  there 
was  no  further  tampering  with  their  religious  observ 
ances. 

When  the  George  Washington   reached   the  Dar 
danelles,  where  two  forts  commanded  the  entrance,  her 


The  Dardanelles. 

passport  was  demanded.  As  she  was  not  provided 
with  one,  and  came  from  a  country  that  was  unknown 
in  the  Orient,  Captain  Bainbridge  resorted  to  a  ruse  de 
guerre,  not  wishing  to  be  delayed  several  weeks  while 
the  regular  form  of  entry  could  be  made  out  for  him. 
Approaching  the  usual  anchoring  ground,  he  clewed 
up  his  courses,  let  the  topsails  go,  and  made  every  pre 
tense  of  complying  with  the  rules  of  the  port ;  but 
when  the  ship  began  firing  a  salute  and  the  forts  re 
turned  it,  all  sail  was  instantly  made  under  cover  of 
the  smoke,  and  before  the  Turks  were  aware  of  it  the 
frigate  was  beyond  the  range  of  their  guns,  which,  be 
ing  stationary,  were  useless  when  a  ship  passed  their 


1803.  THE  GEORGE  WASHINGTON  AT  CONSTANTINOPLE.   223 

line  of  fire.  On  arrival  at  Constantinople,  the  Sublime 
Porte  was  officially  advised  for  the  first  time  of  a  na 
tion  in  the  New  World,  and  he  expressed  himself  as  be 
ing  pleased  with  the  visit ;  while  the  American  frigate 
was  placed  under  the  "  protection  "  of  Capudan  Pasha, 
a  brother-in-law  of  the  Sultan  and  Admiral  of  the 
Fleets.  The  Pasha  also  gave  Captain  Bainbridge  a 
firman  which  entitled  him  to  the  special  protection  of 
the  Sultan  in  any  part  of  the  Turkish  Empire.  Soon 
afterward  a  messenger  from  the  castle  came  aboard  the 
George  Washington,  bringing  with  him  a  lamb  and  a 
bunch  of  flowers,  the  former  an  emblem  of  peace  and 
the  latter  of  welcome.  But  the  Algerian  ambassadors 
were  treated  with  harshness,  and  were  informed  that 
the  Dey  had  just  sixty  days  in  which  to  declare  war 
against  France  and  to  send  a  large  sum  of  money  to 
Constantinople. 

The  celebrated  English  traveler  Edward  Daniel 
Clarke,  who  arrived  overland  at  Constantinople  from 
St.  Petersburg  at  the  time  of  Captain  Bainbridge's  visit, 
gives  the  following  account  of  the  interest  the  pres 
ence  of  the  United  States  cruiser  aroused  in  that  city  : 
"On  the  arrival  of  the  American  frigate  for  the  first 
time  at  Constantinople  considerable  sensation  was  ex 
cited  not  only  among  the  Turks  but  also  throughout 
the  whole  diplomatic  corps  stationed  at  Pera.  The 
ship  commanded  by  Captain  Bainbridge  came  from 
Algiers,  with  a  letter  from  the  Dey  to  the  Sultan  and 
Capudan  Pasha.  The  presents  consisted  of  tigers  and 
other  animals,  sent  with  a  view  to  conciliate  the  Turk 
ish  Government.  The  messenger  from  the  Dey  was 
ordered  on  board  the  Capudan  Pasha's  ship,  who,  re 
ceiving  the  letter  from  the  Dey  with  great  rage,  first 
spat  and  then  stamped  upon  it,  telling  him  to  go  back 
to  his  master  and  inform  him  that  he  would  be  treated 
after  the  same  manner  whenever  the  Turkish  admiral 
met  him. 

"Captain  Bainbridge,  however,  was  received  with 


221     THE  BEGINNING  OF  THE  WAR   WITH  TRIPOLI.     1801. 

every  mark  of  attention.  The  order  of  the  ship  and 
the  healthy  state  of  the  crew  became  topics  of  general 
conversation  in  Pera,  and  the  different  ministers  strove 
who  should  first  receive  him  in  their  palaces.  We  ac 
companied  him  in  his  long  boat  to  the  Black  Sea,  as 
he  was  desirous  of  hoisting  there,  for  the  first  time,  the 
American  flag ;  and  upon  his  return  we  were  amused 
by  a  very  singular  entertainment  at  his  table  during 
dinner.  Upon  the  four  corners  of  the  table  were  so 
many  decanters  containing  fresh  water  "  [the  Mussul 
mans  not  drinking  wine]  "from  the  four  quarters  of 
the  globe.  The  nations  of  Europe,  Asia,  Africa  and 
America  sat^down  together  at  the  same  table,  and  were 
regaled  with  flesh,  fruits,  bread  and  other  viands,  while 
of  every  article  a  sample  of  each  quarter  of  the  globe 
was  presented  at  the  same  time." 

After  landing  the  envoys  and  their  presents  Cap 
tain  Bainbridge  returned  to  Algiers,  arriving  at  that 
place  on  the  21st  of  January,  1801.  This  time  he  took 
the  precaution  to  anchor  beyond  reach  of  the  bat 
teries,  upon  which  the  Bey  expressed  great  indigna 
tion,  for  it  afterward  appeared  that  he  wished  to  send 
the  frigate  to  Constantinople  a  second  time,  as  she  was 
the  only  ship  suited  for  the  purpose.  The  Dey's  plan 
now  was  to  inveigle  her  under  his  guns  on  any  pretext, 
seize  her,  enslave  all  her  officers  and  men,  and  then 
declare  war  against  his  unmannerly  tributaries.  Hav 
ing  brought  them  to  a  better  frame  of  mind  with  threats 
of  torturing  or  butchering  his  several  hundred  prison 
ers,  he  would  grant  peace  only  on  promises  of  better 
behavior  in  the  future,  and  on  payment  of  a  heavy 
ransom,  which  would  reimburse  him  for  the  fine  the 
Sultan  had  just  imposed  upon  him,  and  leave  a  hand 
some  balance  besides. 

Having  marked  out  his  programme  for  the  chastise 
ment  of  the  "Christian  dogs"  of  the  New  World,  he 
proceeded  to  carry  it  out.  All  the  subterfuge  and  craft 
known  to  Oriental  diplomacy  were  brought  into  play. 


1801.      CAPTAIN  BAINBRIDGE  BEFORE  THE   BASHAW.      225 

Threats  and  persuasion,  menace  and  flattery,  and  an 
adroit  manipulation  of  falsehood,  spread  out  their  net 
work  of  deceit  and  trickery  to  entangle  the  victim. 
But  the  clear-headed  commander  of  the  George  Wash 
ington  was  not  to  be  duped  by  such  methods.  His 
prudence  in  anchoring  his  ship  out  of  gunshot  inter 
rupted  the  programme,  and  nothing  could  induce  him 
to  change  his  determination. 

Before  he  sailed  for  Constantinople  Captain  Bain- 
bridge  had  borrowed  some  old  cannon  of  the  Algerians 
to  be  used  as  ballast.  He  now  wished  to  return  them, 
and  engaged  lighters  for  that  purpose  ;  but  when  the 
Dey  heard  of  it  he  forbade  the  men  to  undertake  the 
work  unless  the  frigate  came  under  the  guns  of  his 
batteries,  and  at  the  same  time  threatened  to  declare 
war  unless  the  cannon  were  immediately  returned,  on 
the  charge  that  the  frigate  had  borrowed  cannon  and 
would  not  return  them.  Captain  Bainbridge,  however, 
managed  to  have  the  cannon  landed  in  spite  of  the 
obstacles  the  Dey  threw  in  his  way,  and  said  "the 
Dey  had  forgotten  the  oath  he  swore  not  to  make  any 
further  demands  after  the  first  voyage  was  performed. 
After  such  a  disregard  of  his  solemn  declaration  he 
could  not  doubt  his  disposition  to  capture  the  frigate, 
and  enslave  the  officers  and  crew,  if  she  were  again  in 
his  power." 

At  the  urgent  solicitation  of  the  American  consul, 
Captain  Bainbridge,  being  assured  of  his  personal 
safety,  landed  and  waited  upon  the  Dey  in  his  council 
chamber.  The  despot  received  him  with  scowls,  and, 
soon  bursting  forth  into  an  ungovernable  rage,  threat 
ened  him  with  torture  and  captivity ;  and  as  he  was 
surrounded  by  fifty  of  his  janizaries  fully  armed,  and 
having  before  them  a  representative  of  an  unknown 
nation  in  the  far-off  New  World,  there  was  little  doubt 
that  the  Dey  would  have  made  good  his  threat ;  but  at 
this  critical  moment  Captain  Bainbridge  thought  of 
the  firman  that  Capudan  Pasha  had  given  to  him,  and 


226     THE  BEGINNING  OF  THE  WAR   WITH  TRIPOLI.     1801. 

showed  it  to  the  enraged  potentate.  In  an  instant  the 
fury  of  the  tyrant  was  changed  into  cringing  deference 
to  the  unarmed  man  before  him.  The  next  morning 
the  flagstaff  of  the  French  consulate  was  cut  down 
and  war  was  declared  against  that  country,  while  about 
four  hundred  Venetians,  Maltese  and  Sicilian  prison 
ers,  who  had  been  captured  while  under  the  protection 
of  British  passports,  were  liberated. 

Smarting  under  the  insults  that  had  been  heaped 
upon  his  flag,  Captain  Bainbridge  made  sail  for  the 
United  States.  Before  leaving  Algiers  he  took  aboard 
several  French  families,  including  that  of  Dubois  de 
Trainville,  the  French  consul,  and  that  of  the  French 
governor  of  La  Caille.  Failing  of  an  opportunity  to 
wreak  his  rage  on  the  Americans  or  on  the  Maltese, 
Venetians  or  Sicilians,  the  Dey  now  turned  on  the 


Alicante. 

French  who  happened  to  be  in  his  realm  ;  and  as  he 
had  been  compelled  by  the  Sultan  to  declare  war 
against  that  country,  he  threatened  to  put  every  man, 
woman  and  child  of  them  in  irons  if  found  in  Algiers 
after  forty-eight  hours.  As  the  Dey  well  knew,  there 


1801.  THE  GEORGE  WASHINGTON  SAILS  HOME.  227 

was  no  vessel  in  port  that  could  take  them  away,  and 
they  were  doomed  to  the  horrors  of  Mussulman  slavery. 
But  Captain  Bainbridge  offered  to  take  them  aboard 
the  George  Washington,  although  the  United  States 
and  France  at  that  time  were  at  war.  Such  was  the 
haste  of  the  debarkations  that  no  preparation  for  the 
unexpected  passengers  could  be  made,  but  the  Ameri 
can  officers  gave  up  their  cabins  to  the  refugees  and  did 
everything  in  their  power  to  alleviate  their  distress. 
On  the  8th  of  May  they  were  landed  at  Alicante, 
and  they  bade  adieu  to  their  "kind  and  generous 
friend  with  hearts  full  of  gratitude."  Napoleon  Bona 
parte,  who  at  that  time  was  First  Consul  of  France, 
ordered  that  uhis  acknowledgments  and  thanks  be 
tendered  to  Captain  Bainbridge  for  the  important 
services  he  had  rendered  the  Republic,  with  assur 
ances  that  such  kind  offices  would  be  always  remem 
bered  and  reciprocated  with  pleasure  whenever  an 
occasion  offered." 

The  George  Washington  now  stood  down  to  the 
Straits  of  Gibraltar,  and  in  a  few  days  was  spreading 
her  sails  on  the  broad  Atlantic  for  the  United  States, 
where  she  arrived  early  in  the  summer  of  1801,  bring 
ing  news  of  the  outrages  that  had  been  perpetrated  on 
her  and  on  the  American  flag. 


CHAPTER  Y. 

THE   WAR   IN   THE   MEDITERRANEAN. 

BEFORE  news  of  the  declaration  of  war  by  the 
Bashaw  of  Tripoli  reached  the  United  States  the 
Government  had  intimations  of  the  probability  of  such 
a  measure  being  taken,  and  on  the  20th  of  May,  1801, 
the  Secretary  of  the  Navy  ordered  a  squadron  of  ob 
servation,  under  the  command  of  Captain  Eichard 
Dale,  to  the  Mediterranean.  The  squadron  consisted 
of  the  44-gun  frigate  President  (flagship),  Captain 
James  Barron ;  the  36-gun  frigate  Philadelphia,  Cap 
tain  Samuel  Barron  ;  the  32-gun  frigate  Essex,  Captain 
William  Bainbridge  (this  ship  sailing  after  the  others), 
and  the  12-gun  schooner  Enterprise,  Lieutenant  An 
drew  Sterett.  Captain  Dale  was  instructed  to  appear 
off  the  ports  of  Algiers,  Tunis,  and  Tripoli,  and  if  pos 
sible  maintain  peace  with  those  regencies  by  this  show 
ing  of  force  and  by  promises  of  presents  ;  but  if  any  of 
them  had  declared  war  by  the  time  he  arrived  he  was 
to  act  on  his  own  judgment.  In  any  case  the  ships 
were  not  to  remain  in  the  Mediterranean  after  the  1st 
of  December,  as  navigation  in  that  sea  was  considered 
too  hazardous  in  winter. 

The  squadron  arrived  at  Gibraltar  on  the  1st  of  July, 
where  it  found  two  Tripolitan  corsairs,  one  a  ship  of 
twenty-six  guns,  9-  and  6-pounders,  with  two  hundred 
and  sixty  men ;  and  the  other  a  brig  of  sixteen  guns 
and  one  hundred  and  sixty  men,  under  the  command  of 
an  admiral,  a  renegade  Scotchman  named  Lisle.  As 
the  circumstances  of  these  rovers  being  stationed  at  the 
Straits  of  Gibraltar  was  suspicious,  the  PhiladelpJiia 

(228) 


1801.    AMERICAN  OFFICERS  INSULTED  BY  SPANIARDS.     229 


was  ordered  to  watch  them  and  to  prevent  their  get 
ting  to  sea.  This  was  effectually  done,  and  the  ad 
miral,  despairing  of  making  his  escape,  dismantled  his 
ships  and  sent  his  men  secretly  across  the  Straits  in 
boats,  and  they  made  their  way  overland  to  Tripoli. 
The  despots  of  the  several  States  of  Barbary  united  in 
complaining  of  the  blockade  as  being  contrary  to  cus 
tom,  and  the  Dey  of  Algiers  insolently  demanded  pass 
ports  for  the  crew  of  the  Tripolitan  corsair,  which  Cap 
tain  Dale  promptly  refused  to  give. 

The  arrival  of  this  first  American  squadron  in  the 
Mediterranean  aroused  much  interest  in  the  several 
ports  at  which  the  ships  stopped,  and  many  compli 
mentary  notices  of  them  appeared  in  the  newspapers. 
When  the  Essex.  Captain  William  Bainbridge,  arrived 
in  the  Roads  of  Barcelona,  early  in  August,  she  was 
received  with  every  courtesy  by  the  Spanish  officers. 
An  incident  happened  in  this  port,  however,  which 
showed  that  even  among  friends  a  frigate  must  be 
ready  to  defend  the  honor  of  its  flag.  Returning  from 
a  visit  to  the  city  in  his  gig  one  night  Captain  Bain- 
bridge  was  grossly  insulted  by  the  commander  of  a 
Spanish  xebec  which  was  anchored  in  the  harbor  as 


Scene  of  the  naval  operations  in  the  Mediterranean. 

a  guard  boat.  In  vulgar  and  abusive  language  the 
Spaniard  ordered  the  gig  to  come  alongside,  and,  as  no 
attention  was  paid  to  the  insult,  several  musket  shots 


230  THE  WAR  IN  THE  MEDITERRANEAN.  1801. 

were  fired.  Supposing  that  some  mistake  had  been 
made,  Captain  Bainbridge  ran  alongside  the  xebec  and 
explained  who  he  was,  but,  not  satisfied  with  this,  the 
commander  of  the  guard  boat  insisted  on  his  coming 
aboard.  Captain  Bainbridge  replied  that,  as  the  com 
mander  of  an  American  frigate,  he  considered  it  be 
neath  his  dignity  to  comply  with  such  an  impudent 
request,  and  ordering  his  men  to  shove  off,  he  pulled 
for  the  Essex  in  spite  of  the  Spaniard's  repeated 
threats  of  firing  on  him. 

On  the  following  night  some  of  the  American  lieu 
tenants  returning  from  the  shore  were  insulted  in  the 
same  manner.  First-Lieutenant  Stephen  Decatur  was 
one  of  the  number,  and  the  next  morning  he  went 
aboard  the  xebec  and  asked  for  her  commander,  but 
finding  that  he  was  ashore  he  said,  "  Well,  then,  tell 
him  that  Lieutenant  Decatur,  of  the  frigate  Essex, 
pronounces  him  a  cowardly  scoundrel,  and  that  when 
they  meet  on  shore  he  will  cut  his  ears  off."  The  cap 
tain-general  of  the  port,  hearing  of  the  threat,  was 
much  disturbed,  as  the  commander  of  the  xebec  was  a 
man  with  influential  connections,  and  he  begged  Cap 
tain  Bainbridge  to  avert  the  duel  by  keeping  all  the 
American  officers  confined  to  the  Essex  so  long  as  they 
were  in  that  port,  while  on  his  part  he  promised  that 
the  commander  of  the  xebec  would  be  kept  out  of 
harm's  way.  Captain  Bainbridge  replied  that  not  for 
a  moment  would  he  consider  the  proposition  ;  that  he 
knew  the  American  officers  to  be  gentlemen,  and  if  the 
commander  of  the  xebec  did  not  know  how  to  treat 
them  as  such  he  must  take  the  consequences.  This 
spirited  answer  brought  the  captain-general  to  terms, 
and  the  obnoxious  commander  of  the  xebec  was  severe 
ly  censured  and  made  ample  apology.  This  affair 
reached  the  ears  of  the  King  at  Madrid,  who  immedi 
ately  ordered  the  officials  of  every  Spanish  seaport  to 
4 'treat  all  officers  of  the  United  States  with  courtesy 
and  respect,  and  more  particularly  those  attached  to 


1801.  THE  ENTERPRISE  AND  THE  TRIPOLI.  231 

the  United  States  frigate  Essex?  This  order  was  faith 
fully  carried  out,  and  our  officers  were  not  again  an 
noyed  by  the  impertinence  of  petty  officials. 

While  the  Essex  called  at  the  ports  of  Marseilles, 
Barcelona  and  Alicante  to  collect  arid  convoy  a  fleet  of 
American  merchantmen  through  the  Straits  of  Gibral 
tar,  the  President  and  the  Enterprise  made  sail  for 
Algiers.  The  appearance  of  this  force  had  a  more 
soothing  effect  on  the  Dey's  resentment  than  a  dozen 
George  Washingtons  laden  with  presents,  and  he  has 
tily  retracted  his  hostile  utterances  of  a  few  months 
before  and  assured  Captain  Dale  of  his  friendship  for 
the  United  States. 

In  the  meantime  the  Enterprise,  Lieutenant  An 
drew  Sterett,  was  sent  to  Malta,  and  while  cruising  off 
that  island,  August  1,  she  fell  in  with  the  enemy's 
war  polacre  Tripoli  of  fourteen  guns  and  eighty  men. 
An  action  began  within  pistol  shot,  and  was  main 
tained  with  great  obstinacy  for  three  hours.  In  the 
course  of  the  battle  the  Tripolitans  surrendered  three 
times,  but  when  the  Americans  sent  a  boat  to  take 
possession  the  Turks  twice  reopened  fire  and  rehoisted 
their  colors.  Exasperated  by  their  treachery,  Lieuten 
ant  Sterett  determined  to  sink  them,  but  the  Turkish 
commander  finally  appeared  at  the  gangway,  and,  cast 
ing  his  flag  into  the  sea,  bowed  his  head  to  the  deck 
and  begged  for  quarter.  Thereupon  Lieutenant  David 
Porter  was  again  sent  aboard  to  secure  the  prize,  and 
this  time  no  difficulty  was  experienced.  In  this  action 
the  Enterprise  did  not  lose  a  man,  and  she  received 
no  material  damage  in  her  hull  or  rigging ;  but  the 
Tripoli  was  severely  handled,  her  mizzenmast  going 
by  the  board  shortly  after  she  struck.  Out  of  her  crew 
of  eighty  she  lost  twenty  killed,  while  her  commander, 
Mahomet  Sous,  her  first  officer  and  twenty-eight  men 
were  wounded. 

According  to  his  instructions,  Lieutenant  Sterett 
threw  all  the  enemy's  guns,  arms  and  ammunition  over- 


232  THE  WAR  IN  THE   MEDITERRANEAN.  1801. 

board,  and  completely  dismantling  the  polacre  of  every 
thing  save  a  sail  and  a  spar  he  ordered  her  to  make  for 
the  nearest  port.  For  this  handsome  affair  Congress 
voted  Lieutenant  Sterett  a  sword  and  promoted  him  to 
the  rank  of  master-commandant,  and  gave  one  month's 
pay  to  each  of  the  officers,  the  sea  lieutenants  being 
David  Porter  and  Richard  H.  L.  Lawson,  while  E.  S. 
Lane  was  lieutenant  of  the  marines. 

Comparative  force  and  loss. 

Guns.        Crew.        Killed.        Wounded.       Total. 

Enterprise:    12          94  0  0  0,    Time 

Tripoli :  14          80          20  30  50  f 

The  result  of  this  first  rencontre  between  the  Amer 
icans  and  the  Tripolitans  was  to  render  the  latter  ex 
tremely  cautious  in  venturing  on  the  sea  when  an  Amer 
ican  cruiser  was  known  to  be  around.  On  regaining 
port,  the  survivors  of  this  action  circulated  such  ac 
counts  of  the  ferocity  and  prowess  of  the  Americans 
that  it  caused  almost  a  panic  among  the  superstitious 
seafaring  classes  at  Tripoli,  and  it  was  with  the  great 
est  difficulty  that  they  could  be  induced  to  go  to  sea. 
This  fear  was  increased  by  wild  and  exaggerated  ac 
counts  of  the  personality  of  the  strange  men  from  the 
New  World.  They  were  represented  as  being  possessed 
of  terrible  powers  and  superhuman  influences,  stories 
which  were  readily  believed  by  the  imaginative  Ori 
entals.  The  commander  of  the  Tripoli  was  severely 
punished,  in  spite  of  the  evidences  of  his  bravery  as 
shown  in  his  many  wounds.  He  was  placed  on  a  don 
key,  and  having  been  paraded  through  the  streets  of 
Tripoli  he  received  the  bastinado. 

After  overawing  the  Dey  of  Algiers,  the  President 
appeared  off  Tripoli  on  the  24th  of  August,  and  on  the 
30th  she  brought  to  a  Greek  ship  that  was  endeavoring 
to  run  the  blockade.  On  board  were  found  thirty-five 
Tripolitans,  who  were  detained  as  prisoners,  and  after 
considerable  haggling  over  the  terms  they  were  ex- 


1801-1802.      THE  PRESIDENT'S  NARROW  ESCAPE.  233 

changed  for  six  Americans.  Remaining  eighteen  days 
before  this  city,  Captain  Dale  made  for  Gibraltar,  stop 
ping  at  several  European  ports  on  the  way. 

While  entering  Port  Mahon  the  President  met  with 
an  accident  that  would  have  resulted  in  the  loss  of  the 
ship  had  it  not  been  for  her  superior  construction. 
While  standing  into  the  Roads  with  about  six  knots 
headway  she  struck  a  rock,  and  rolling  heavily,  set 
tled  off  toward  the  passage  and  again  floated.  Cap 
tain  Dale  immediately  came  on  deck,  and  with  great 
skill  and  coolness  carried  his  ship  through  the  nar 
row  channel  and  brought  her  to  the  wind  until  the 
extent  of  the  damage  could  be  ascertained.  As  the 
pumps  showed  that  she  was  not  leaking  seriously,  it 
was  decided  not  to  run  off  the  land,  but  a  heavy  gale 
coming  on  during  the  night  Captain  Dale  made  for 
Toulon,  where  he  arrived  in  safety.  On  examining 
the  ship's  bottom  it  was  found  that  a  large  piece  of 
the  stem  had  been  literally  twisted  off,  while  the  keel 
for  several  feet  was  shattered.  Nothing  prevented  the 
ship  from  sinking  but  the  skillful  manner  in  which  she 
had  been  constructed. 

In  December  the  President  and  the  Enterprise  re 
turned  to  the  United  States,  leaving  the  Philadelphia 
and  the  Essex  on  the  station.  During  the  winter  of 
1801-1802  these  frigates  appeared  off  Algiers,  Tunis 
and  Tripoli,  and  so  vigilant  were  their  commanders,  and 
so  excellent  was  the  disposition  of  their  forces,  that  not 
a  single  American  merchantman  was  captured.  Cap 
tain  Dale  was  superseded  in  the  command  of  the  Med 
iterranean  squadron  by  Captain  Thomas  Truxtun,  but 
the  question  of  allowing  the  latter  a  captain  for  his 
flagship  arose  and  he  resigned  from  the  service,  and 
Captain  Richard  Valentine  Morris  was  appointed  in 
his  place.  Up  to  this  time  much  difficulty  had  been 
experienced  from  enlisting  the  men  for  one  year  only. 
The  limit  was  now  increased  to  two  years. 

Captain  Morris  arrived  at  Gibraltar  on  the  25th 

18 


234:  THE  WAR  IN  THE  MEDITERRANEAN.      1802-1812. 

of  May,  1802,  and  in  the  course  of  a  few  months  the 
following  vessels  arrived  on  the  scene  of  action :  The 
36-gun  frigate  Chesapeake  (flagship),  Lieutenant  Isaac 
Chauncey ;  the  36-gun  frigate  Constellation,  Captain 
Alexander  Murray ;  the  36-gun  frigate  New  York, 
Captain  James  Barron  ;  the  28-gun  corvette  Adams, 
Captain  Hugh  George  Campbell ;  the  28-gun  corvette 
John  Adams,  Captain  John  Rodgers ;  and  the  12-gun 
schooner  Enterprise,  Master -Commandant  Andrew 
Sterett.  The  28-gun  corvette  Boston  was  ordered  to 
join  this  squadron  after  landing  Robert  R.  Livingston, 
the  American  minister  to  France,  at  L'Orient ;  but  her 
eccentric  commander,  Captain  Daniel  McNiell,  took 
pains  not  to  fall  in  with  his  superior  officer,  and  after 
cruising  some  time  in  the  Mediterranean  he  brought 
the  Boston  back  to  the  United  States.  Richard  Somers 
at  that  time  was  her  first  lieutenant,  and  Melanchthon 
Taylor  Woolsey,  afterward  captain,  was  a  master's  mate 
in  her.  It  was  said  of  Captain  McMell  that  he  sailed 
from  Toulon  leaving  three  of  his  officers  on  shore, 
and  in  order  that  he  might  keep  his  complement 
full  he  carried  with  him  three  French  officers  who 
were  dining  aboard  the  Boston  at  the  time.  They 
were  carried  over  to  the  African  coast  and  returned  in 
a  fishing  boat,  but  it  was  many  months  before  the 
American  'officers  were  able  to  rejoin  their  ship.  On 
another  occasion  Captain  McNiell,  while  at  Messina, 
had  a  number  of  musicians  aboard  belonging  to  one  of 
the  regiments  quartered  at  that  port,  whom  he  carried 
to  the  United  States  against  their  will.  Several  of 
them  were  returning  in  the  Chesapeake  when  that  ship 
was  attacked  by  the  Leopard  in  1807.  During  the 
War  of  1812  Captain  McJNlell  performed  some  gallant 
exploits  in  a  revenue  cutter,  but  after  his  eccentric 
career  in  the  Mediterranean  he  was  not  again  connected 
with  the  navy,  although  he  was  ever  considered  one  of 
the  bravest  and  most  skillful  officers  of  his  day. 

So  sanguine  was  the  Government  that  this  squad- 


1802-1803.    AN  ATTACK  ON  TRIPOL1TAN  GUNBOATS.          235 

ron  would  bring  the  Bashaw  to  terms,  that  Mr.  Cath- 
cart,  who  had  been  the  American  consul  at  Tripoli, 
was  sent  to  negotiate  a  treaty  of  peace.  But  formidable 
as  this  naval  force  was,  it  was  not  fitted  either  for 
blockade  duty  or  for  bombarding  a  city  fortified  as 
Tripoli  was.  It  contained  no  long  gun  heavier  than 
an  18-pounder,  and  the  Enterprise  was  the  only  vessel 
in  the  squadron  fitted  for  the  peculiar  and  difficult 
navigation  of  the  northern  coast  of  Africa.  Little 
could  be  done,  therefore,  toward  bringing  the  Bashaw 
of  Tripoli  to  terms,  but  the  timely  appearance  of  this 
strong  force  not  only  protected  American  shipping  but 
so  overawed  the  Em  peror  of  Morocco,  the  Dey  of  Al 
giers  and  the  Bey  of  Tunis  that  they  hastily  retracted 
their  hostile  expressions. 

While  cruising  three  or  four  leagues  off  the  port  of 
Tripoli  in  company  with  a  Swedish  frigate,  the  Con 
stellation  discovered  seventeen  gunboats  stealing  along 
the  shore,  which  had  left  Tripoli  the  night  before  to 
assist  in  running  in  an  American  prize  that  was  ex 
pected  from  Tunis.  Captain  Alexander  Murray  im 
mediately  gave  chase  and  opened  a  brisk  fire,  com 
pelling  nine  of  the  gunboats  to  run  close  in  shore, 
where  they  were  protected  in  little  bays  and  inlets  ;  at 
the  same  time  a  large  body  of  cavalry  came  down  to 
the  shore  to  aid  in  their  defense.  Finding  it  impos 
sible  to  reach  them,  Captain  Murray  returned  to  his 
station  off  the  port.  The  gunboats  were  seriously 
injured  by  the  Constellation's  fire,  and  the  cavalry 
suffered  severely,  one  officer  of  high  rank  being  re 
ported  killed.  The  Constellation  received  some  slight 
damage  in  her  rigging.  On  the  30th  of  January,  1803, 
Captain  Morris  sailed  from  Malta  for  Tripoli  with  the 
Chesapeake,  the  New  York,  the  John  Adams  and  the 
Enterprise,  but  before  he  had  cleared  Malta  a  gale  be 
gan  and  blew  with  extreme  violence  for  eleven  days, 
which  rendered  it  impossible  to  approach  the  coast. 

While  Captain  Morris  was  detained  in  Malta  by 


236  THE  WAR  IN  THE  MEDITERRANEAN.  1803. 

adverse  winds  an  incident  took  place  which  will  give 
some  idea  of  the  difficulties  with  which  the  officers  of 
the  navy  in  its  early  days  had  to  contend.  It  was  the 
fashion  in  British  society  at  this  time  to  speak  con 
temptuously  of  anything  that  pertained  to  the  United 
States,  and  especially  of  the  navy ;  and  one  evening, 
while  Midshipman  Joseph  Bainbridge  and  some  of  his 
messmates  were  in  the  lobby  of  a  theater,  a  young 
British  officer,  the  secretary  of  Sir  Alexander  Ball,  the 
governor  of  the  island,  said  with  the  intention  of  being 
overheard  by  the  Americans,  "Those  Yankees  will 
never  stand  the  smell  of  powder,"  and  followed  up  the 
slander  by  rudely  brushing  against  Midshipman  Bain- 
bridge.  The  latter  promptly  knocked  the  offensive 
officer  down,  and  a  challenge  followed.  Lieutenant 
Stephen  Decatur  acted  as  second  to  young  Bainbridge, 
and  selected  pistols  at  four  paces.  The  governor's  sec 
retary  was  an  expert  duelist,  but  his  second  objected 
to  the  distance,  remarking,  "This  looks  like  murder, 
sir "  ;  to  which  Decatur  replied  :  ' '  No,  sir,  this  looks 
like  death  ;  your  friend  is  a  professed  duelist ;  mine  is 
wholly  inexperienced."  And  on  this  footing  the  two 
men  faced  each  other.  Decatur  gave  the  warning, 
"Take  aim  ! "  and  at  the  word  "Fire  ! "  Bainbridge  dis 
charged  his  weapon  and  the  ball  passed  through  the 
secretary's  hat,  while  the  latter  missed  his  aim  entirely. 
The  men  were  again  placed  face  to  face,  and  this  time 
the  Englishman  fell,  mortally  wounded. 

Hearing  from  William  Eaton,  the  American  consul 
at  Tunis,  that  "  matters  were  not  quite  peaceable  in 
that  quarter,"  Captain  Morris  changed  his  course  for 
that  place,  and  by  this  showing  of  force  undoubtedly 
prevented  the  Bey  from  beginning  hostilities.  Sailing 
again  on  the  llth  of  March,  the  squadron  appeared  off 
Algiers.  The  Dey  quickly  changed  his  belligerent  at 
titude,  expressed  satisfaction  with  the  existing  treaty, 
and  became  indignant  when  it  was  intimated  that  the 
Americans  had  been  led  to  believe  to  the  contrary. 


1803.  THE   PRESIDENT  ON  FIRE.  237 

Arriving  at  Gibraltar  on  the  23d  of  March,  Captain 
Morris  shifted  his  broad  pennant  to  the  New  York, 
and  the  Chesapeake  sailed  for  the  United  States  by 
order  of  the  Navy  Department. 

On  the  10th  of  April,  while  the  New  York,  the 
John  Adams  and  the  Enterprise  were  on  their  way 
from  Gibraltar  to  Malta,  an  explosion  took  place  near 
the  cockpit  of  the  flagship,  just  as  the  music  w^as 
beating  to  grog,  and  the  lower  part  of  the  ship  im 
mediately  became  filled  with  smoke.  At  this  moment, 
Lieutenant  Isaac  Chauncey,  who  was  acting  captain, 
was  passing  the  drummer  and  immediately  ordered 
him  to  beat  to  quarters,  and  soon  the  well-disciplined 
crew  was  under  perfect  control,  ready  for  any  emer 
gency.  As  the  explosion  had  occurred  near  the  maga 
zine,  it  was  feared  that  the  ship  might  blow  up  at  any 
instant,  so  Captain  Morris  gave  the  command  to  hoist 
out  the  boats ;  but  the  men,  mistaking  the  meaning  of 
the  order,  rushed  to  the  jib-boom,  bowsprit,  spritsail 
yardarm,  and  to  any  place  that  was  as  far  as  possible 
from  the  dreaded  magazine.  To  add  to  the  confusion, 
when  a  quartermaster  was  ordered  to  hoist  the  sig 
nal  "A  fire  on  board!"  in  his  haste  he  sent  up  the 
signal  "A  mutiny  on  board!"  Thereupon  the  John 
Adams  and  the  Enterprise  ranged  up  under  the  New 
Yortfs  stern  with  their  crews  at  quarters  and  guns 
trained,  and  observing  the  smoke  and  excitement 
aboard  the  flagship  awaited  only  the  word  to  fire  ; 
but  they  were  prevented  from  doing  so  by  a  timely  ex 
planation  from  the  flagship.  Lieutenant  Chauncey 
then  rallied  some  of  the  men,  and,  coolly  remarking 
that  they  might  as  well  be  blown  through  three  decks 
as  one,  led  the  way  to  the  magazine.  The  passages 
were  filled  with  smoke,  and  a  single  spark  would  have 
blown  the  entire  ship's  company  to  eternity.  Lieuten 
ant  Chauncey  was  seconded  by  Lieutenant  David  Por 
ter,  who  with  some  other  officers  descended  through 
the  wardroom,  and  by  means  of  wet  blankets  and  a 


238  THE  WAR  IN  THE  MEDITERRANEAN.  1803. 

liberal  use  of  water  they  extinguished  the  flames.  The 
explosion  was  thought  to  have  originated  from  a  candle 
which  the  gunner  took  into  the  storeroom  that  led  from 
the  cockpit,  where  a  quantity  of  marine  cartridges  and 
loose  powder  were  stored.  Nineteen  officers  and  men 
were  injured  by  the  explosion,  of  whom  fourteen  sub 
sequently  died.  The  sentinel  at  the  magazine  passage 
was  blown  through  to  the  filling-room  door,  while  the 
two  doors  leading  to  the  magazine  passages  were  forced 
open,  and  nearly  all  the  adjoining  bulkheads  were 
blown  down. 

Arriving  off  Tripoli,  the  John  Adams,  Captain  John 
Rodgers,  on  the  5th  of  May  intercepted  the  Meshouda, 
one  of  the  Tripolitan  cruisers  that  had  been  blockaded 
at  Gibraltar,  and  which  was  now  returning  to  Tripoli 
under  an  assumed  character.  In  order  to  deceive  the 
Americans  she  had  been  sold  to  the  Emperor  of  Moroc 
co,  who  had  sent  her  to  Tunis,  and  having  loaded  at 
that  port  with  grain  she  made  sail  for  Tripoli. 

Captain  Morris  now  determined  to  assemble  his 
entire  force  before  Tripoli,  with  a  view  of  intimidating 
the  Bashaw  and  negotiating  a  favorable  treaty,  and  by 
the  end  of  May  all  the  vessels  were  collected  off  that 
port.  On  the  8th  of  June,  having  been  assured  of  his 
personal  safety,  he  landed  and  had  an  interview  with 
the  Bashaw's  ministers,  but  their  terms  were  so  ex 
travagant  that  negotiations  were  abruptly  broken  off. 

While  assembled  before  the  town  the  squadron 
chased  eleven  lateen-rigged  coasters,  laden  with  wheat, 
into  the  harbor  of  Old  Tripoli,  where  the  enemy,  being 
in  great  need  of  grain,  made  every  preparation  to  se 
cure  them,  and  a  large  body  of  troops  came  down  from 
Tripoli  to  assist  in  their  defense.  The  coasters  were 
hauled  up  high  and  dry  on  the  shore  near  a  stone  build 
ing,  and  breastworks  from  fifteen  to  eighteen  feet  high 
were  hastily  erected  with  the  bags  of  wheat.  During 
the  night  Lieutenant  David  Porter  made  a  reconnois 
sance,  and  on  the  following  morning  he  and  Lieutenant 


1803.  A   SPIRITED  BOAT  ATTACK.  239 

James  Lawrence,  at  the  head  of  a  strong  boat  party, 
pulled  inshore,  and  notwithstanding  a  heavy  fire 
routed  the  enemy  ;  and  after  firing  the  coasters  they 
returned  to  the  ships  with  the  loss  of  about  fifteen 
killed  or  wounded,  among  the  latter  being  Lieutenant 
Porter,  who  was  twice  injured.  John  Downes  was 
one  of  the  midshipmen  in  this  spirited  affair.  So 
close  were  they  to  the  enemy  that  five  or  six  of  the 
Tripolitans  stepped  from  behind  the  breastworks  and 
threw  handfuls  of  pebbles  and  sand  at  the  Americans, 
hoping  that  the  wind  would  blow  it  in  their  faces  and 
blind  them — a  species  of  warfare  often  resorted  to  in 
that  country,  and  very  effective  in  a  desert.  The  Tri 
politans  succeeded  in  extinguishing  the  flames  before 
serious  damage  was  done,  but  their  loss  was  severe. 
Several  of  their  horses  were  cut  in  two  by  cannon  balls, 
and  their  riders  fell  dead.  On  the  28th  of  May  an  at 
tack  was  made  on  the  gunboats,  but  owing  to  the  direc 
tion  of  the  wind  little  was  accomplished. 

On  the  10th  of  June  Captain  Morris  returned  to 
Malta  to  arrange  for  the  bombardment  of  Tripoli,  leav 
ing  the  John  Adams,  the  Adams  and  the  Enterprise, 
the  last  now  commanded  by  Lieutenant  Isaac  Hull,  to 
watch  the  port.  On  the  night  of  June  21  some  move 
ments  on  the  part  of  the  enemy  led  the  senior  officer 
of  this  squadron,  Captain  John  Rodgers,  to  believe 
that  an  effort  would  be  made  to  run  the  blockade 
that  night.  In  order  that  he  might  more  effectually 
intercept  any  craft  which  should  make  this  attempt 
Captain  Rodgers  stationed  the  Adams,  Captain  Hugh 
George  Campbell,  to  the  west,  and  the  Enterprise, 
Lieutenant  Isaac  Hull,  to  the  east,  while  the  John 
Adams  cruised  off  the  port  between  the  two.  Early 
on  the  following  morning  the  signal  "  An  enemy  !  "  was 
flying  from  the  Enterprise.  The  frigate  immediately 
ran  down  to  her  and  discovered  that  a  ship  "  mount 
ing  twenty-two  guns,  the  largest  cruiser  belonging  to 
Tripoli,"  had  run  into  a  deep,  narrow  bay,  about  six 


240  THE  WAR  IN  THE  MEDITERRANEAN.  1803. 

leagues  east  of  Tripoli,  and  was  favorably  anchored 
for  resisting  an  attack.  This  corsair  had  been  cor 
nered  by  the  little  Enterprise,  which,  on  discovering 
the  enemy  at  daylight,  boldly  ran  down  and  compelled 
him  to  seek  refuge. 

Soon  nine  gunboats  were  seen  sweeping  along  the 
shore  to  aid  in  the  defense,  while  a  large  body  of 
soldiers  were  collected  on  shore.  The  John  Adams 
and  the  Enterprise  now  stood  close  into  the  bay,  and 
at  8.53  A.  M.  opened  fire.  After  a  cannonading  of  forty- 
five  minutes  the  Turks  were  observed  hastily  abandon 
ing  their  ship,  a  number  of  them  jumping  overboard, 
and  shortly  afterward  the  cruiser  blew  up.  The  explo 
sion  "  burst  the  hull  to  pieces,  and  forced  the  main  and 
mizzen  masts  one  hundred  and  fifty  feet  perpendicular 
ly  into  the  air,  with  all  the  yards,  shrouds,  stays  etc., 
belonging  to  them."  l  Captain  Rodgers  then  endeav 
ored  to  cut  oif  the  nine  gunboats,  but  owing  to  numer 
ous  shoals  he  was  compelled  to  keep  too  far  seaward 
to  accomplish  his  purpose. 

The  difficulty  of  COD  ducting  an  effective  warfare  in 
the  shoal  waters  off  the  coast  of  Tripoli  with  ships  of 
heavy  draft  induced  Congress  to  pass  a  ]aw,  February 
28,  1803,  authorizing  the  construction  of  the  brigs 
Siren  and  Argus,  mounting  sixteen  24-pound  carron- 
ades  and  two  long  12-pounders,  and  the  schooners 
Nautilus  and  Vixen,  mounting  twelve  18-pound  car- 
ronades  and  two  long  guns.  These  vessels,  commanded 
by  Lieutenant  Charles  Stewart,  Lieutenant  Stephen 
Decatur,  Lieutenant  Richard  Somers  and  Lieutenant 
John  Smith,  respectively,  sailed  as  soon  as  they  could 
be  prepared  for  sea,  and  arrived  in  the  Mediterranean 
by  the  close  of  1803.  Captain  Morris  was  ordered  back 
to  the  United  States,  where  his  conduct  was  inquired 
into  by  Congress,  and  as  it  did  not  prove  satisfactory 
he  was  dismissed  from  the  service,  although  it  was 

1  Official  report  of  Captain  Rodgers. 


1803. 


CAPTAIN  PREBLE  ASSUMES  COMMAND. 


241 


thought  that  his  dismissal  was  largely  due  to  political 
influences.  He  was  succeeded  by  Captain  Edward 
Preble,  who  arrived  at  Gibraltar  in  the  44-gun  frigate 
Constitution,  on  September  12. 


Gibraltar. 

When  Captain  Preble  assumed  command  of  the 
squadron  in  the  Mediterranean  he  was  little  known  to 
the  officers  and  men.  He  came  from  New  Hampshire, 
while  the  other  officers  generally  hailed  from  the  Mid 
dle  and  Southern  States.  He  was  a  man  of  high  tem 
per  and  a  disciplinarian  of  the  strictest  type,  and  at 
first  the  officers,  especially  the  younger  men,  conceived 
a  strong  dislike  for  him.  But  they  mistook  their  man, 
and  shortly  after  his  arrival  in  the  Mediterranean  an 
incident  happened  which  won  for  him  the  respect  and 
loyalty  of  the  entire  squadron.  One  dark  night,  while 
the  flagship  was  in  the  Straits  of  Gibraltar,  a  large 
ship  suddenly  loomed  up  off  the  beam,  and  was  soon 
made  out  to  be  a  heavy  man-of-war.  After  exchang 
ing  several  hails,  in  which  neither  commander  would 


242  THE  WAR  IN  THE  MEDITERRANEAN.  1803. 

reveal  the  name  of  his  ship,  but  insisted  on  knowing 
the  name  of  the  other,  Captain  Preble  hailed  rather 
sharply : 

"I  now  hail  you  for  the  last  time ;  if  you  do  not 
answer  I'll  fire  a  shot  into  you." 

To  which  the  stranger  replied  :  "If  you  do,  I'  11  re 
turn  a  broadside." 

"I  should  like  to  catch  you  at  that!  I  now  hail 
for  an  answer.  What  ship  is  that  ?  " 

i '  This  is  his  Britannic  Majesty's  84-gun  ship  of  the 
line  Donegal,  Sir  Richard  Strachan.  Send  a  boat  on 
board." 

To  this  Captain  Preble  replied  :  "  This  is  the  United 
States  44-gun  ship  Constitution,  Captain  Edward  Pre 
ble,  and  I'll  be  d d  if  I  send  a  boat  on  board  any 

ship  !     Blow  your  matches,  boys  !  " 

As  Captain  Preble  doubted  the  truth  of  the  stran 
ger's  hail,  he  told  him  that  he  would  lie  alongside  him 
until  the  morning  revealed  his  identity ;  upon  which 
the  stranger  sent  a  boat  aboard  the  Constitution  to  ex 
plain  that  it  was  the  English  32-gun  frigate  Maidstone, 
and  that  the  American  had  got  alongside  of  her  so  un 
expectedly  that  they  gave  a  fictitious  name  in  order  to 
gain  time  for  getting  to  quarters. 

Arriving  at  Gibraltar  after  his  cruise  in  the  upper 
Mediterranean  Captain  Bainbridge  was  informed  that 
two  Tripolitan  vessels  were  cruising  in  the  vicinity  of 
Cape  Gata,  and  he  immediately  made  sail  for  the  place. 
On  the  night  of  August  26  a  ship  and  a  brig  wrere  dis 
covered  running  under  easy  canvas,  and  after  coming 
up  with  them  and  repeatedly  hailing,  Captain  Bain- 
bridge  learned  that  the  ship  was  a  cruiser  from  Bar- 
bary.  The  Moorish  commander  was  finally  made  to 
understand  that  he  must  send  a  boat  aboard  with  his 
ship's  papers,  from  which  Captain  Bainbridge  discov 
ered  that  she  was  a  cruiser  belonging  to  the  Emperor 
of  Morocco,  called  the  MesTiboTia,  commanded  by  Ibra- 
ham  Lubarez,  mounting  twenty-two  guns  and  carrying 


1803.        THE  PHILADELPHIA  AND  THE  MESHBOHA.          243 

one  hundred  men.  Believing  the  Philadelphia  to  be 
an  English  frigate,  the  Moor  remarked  that  the  brig  in 
company  was  an  American  which  had  sailed  under  his 
protection  for  several  days.  The  small  sail  the  brig 
was  under  induced  Captain  Bainbridge  to  suspect  that 
she  had  been  captured,  and  Lieutenant  Cox  was  sent 
aboard  to  discover  if  she  had  prisoners.  When  that 
officer  reached  the  brig  the  Moors  in  charge  would  not 
allow  him  to  board,  which  only  increased  the  suspicions 
of  foul  play,  and  an  armed  party  was  immediately  or 
dered  to  enforce  a  search. 

Confined  in  the  hold  were  found  Richard  Bowen 
and  seven  men  of  the  American  brig  Celia  of  Boston, 
owned  by  Amasa  Thayer.  The  officers  and  crew  of  the 
Mesliboha  were  immediately  made  prisoners  and  or 
dered  on  board  the  Philadelphia.  This  took  so  much 
time  that  during  the  night  the  brig  was  lost  sight 
of,  and  it  was  not  until  the  following  afternoon  that 
she  was  discovered  rounding  Cape  Gata  from  the 
east  and  standing  close  inshore.  Owing  to  the  light 
ness  of  the  wind  it  was  midnight  before  she  was  re 
captured. 

In  the  meantime  the  commander  of  the  Mesliboha 
was  asked  on  what  authority  he  had  seized  the  Celia. 
He  answered  that  he  had  no  authority,  but  that  when 
he  left  Tangiers  there  was  serious  trouble  between  the 
Emperor  and  the  American  consul,  and  in  anticipation 
of  an  immediate  declaration  of  war  he  had  seized  the 
brig.  Captain  Bainbridge  replied  that  in  such  case  he 
had  no  right  to  use  the  American  consul's  passport, 
which  permitted  him  to  cruise  unmolested  by  American 
ships  of  war  ;  and  still  suspecting  that  the  seizure  had 
been  made  with  the  sanction  of  the  Emperor  of  Moroc 
co,  Captain  Bainbridge  informed  the  commander  of  the 
Meslibolia  that  the  capture  was  an  act  of  piracy,  and 
that  he  was  under  the  necessity  of  hanging  him  at  the 
yardarm.  This  threat  had  the  desired  effect.  The  Moor 
begged  for  a  stay  of  proceedings,  hastily  unbuttoned 


244  THE  WAR  IN  THE  MEDITERRANEAN.  1803. 

several  waistcoats,  and  from  the  inside  pocket  of  the 
fifth  drew  out  the  secret  document.  It  was  not  signed 
by  the  Emperor  of  Morocco,  however,  but  by  his  subor 
dinate,  the  Governor  of  Tangiers.  Captain  Bainbridge 
now  made  sail  for  Cape  St.  Vincent  in  search  of  a 
Moorish  ship  of  thirty  guns,  but  not  falling  in  with  her 
he  returned  to  Gibraltar  with  his  prizes  (where  he  was 
joined  by  David  Porter  as  first  lieutenant)  and  reported 
the  affair  to  his  superior. 

Captain  Preble  took  prompt  and  decisive  measures, 
and  on  the  6th  of  October  the  Constitution,  the  New 
York,  the  John  Adams  and  the  Nautilus  appeared  off 
Tangiers.  Although  Captain  John  Rodgers  was  the 
senior  officer  on  this  station,  and  his  authority,  strictly 
speaking,  had  ceased,  he  generously  consented  to  ac 
company  Captain  Preble  to  Tangiers,  leaving  him  his 
power  to  act  as  negotiator  and  commander  in  chief. 
The  Emperor  promptly  disavowed  the  act  of  his  gov 
ernor,  and  as  an  earnest  of  his  good  faith  signed  anew 
the  treaty  of  1786,  and  deprived  the  governor  of  his 
commission,  confiscated  his  estates  and  publicly  pro 
claimed  the  commander  of  the  MesJibolia  a  disgraced 
officer.  A  salute  of  twenty-one  guns  was  given  to  the 
American  squadron,  and  a  present  of  ten  bullocks, 
with  sheep  and  fowls  was  sent  aboard  the  ship  ;  and 
to  make  the  reparation  greater,  an  American  ship  that 
had  been  detained  at  Mogador  was  released.  On 
the  8th  of  October  the  Emperor,  with  his  court  and 
army,  reviewed  the  American  squadron  and  exchanged 
salutes.  Notwithstanding  this  ample  apology,  it  was 
generally  thought  at  the  time  that  the  Emperor  had 
authorized  these  captures  and  had  merely  shifted  the 
responsibility  on  his  subordinates.  The  Mesliboha  was 
returned,  however,  and  the  affair  was  amicably  dis 
missed.  Congress  voted  the  captors  of  this  ship  an 
appropriation  in  lieu  of  prize  money. 

Soon  afterward  the  Philadelphia,  Captain  William 
Bainbridge,  was  detailed  to  assist  the  12-gun  schooner 


1803.  THE  LOSS  OF  THE  PHILADELPHIA.  245 

Vixen,  Lieutenant  John  Smith,  in  blockading  the  port 
of  Tripoli.  After  arriving  off  that  harbor  Captain  Bain- 
bridge  was  informed  by  a  Neapolitan  that  a  Tripoli- 
tan  corsair  had  just  sailed  on  a  cruise.  This  informa 
tion  induced  him  to  dispatch  the  Vixen  in  the  direc 
tion  the  corsair  was  .supposed  to  have  taken,  so  that 
the  Philadelphia  was  left  alone  before  Tripoli.  On 
the  29th  of  October,  while  on  this  tedious  duty,  the 
frigate  was  driven  from  her  station  by  a  strong  wester 
ly  wind,  and  as  she  was  returning  to  her  station,  on  the 
morning  of  the  31st,  she  discovered  a  Tripolitan  vessel, 
probably  the  corsair  the  Vixen  had  gone  in  search  of, 
endeavoring  to  run  into  the  port.  The  Philadelphia 
immediately  made  sail  in  chase,  and  by  11  A.  M.  had 
opened  fire  with  her  bow  guns,  but  owing  to  numerous 
shoals  and  sunken  rocks  she  was  much  embarrassed 
in  her  movements  and  did  not  gain  so  rapidly  as  could 
be  desired.  An  extensive  reef  called  Kalinsa,  not 
down  on  the  charts  of  that  day,  ran  some  miles  east 
ward  of  Tripoli,  parallel  to  the  coast.  As  the  chase 
undoubtedly  well  knew,  there  wras  an  abundance  of 
water  between  the  reef  and  the  mainland,  and  many 
openings  led  out  to  sea  where  there  were  six  and 
seven  fathoms  ;  but  all  this  was  unknown  to  Captain 
Bainbridge  and  his  officers.  These  reefs  and  channels 
afforded  the  enemy  every  facility  in  evading  a  block 
ading  force,  for  knowing  all  the  landmarks  they  could 
sail  through  the  various  channels  in  safety,  and  the 
Tripolitan  probably  steered  among  these  reefs  hoping 
the  frigate  would  follow  and  run  aground.  In  making 
for  the  chase  the  Philadelphia  passed  to  the  east  of 
the  most  easterly  reef  and  then  entered  the  inner  chan 
nel.  The  lead  was  constantly  kept  going  and  showed 
from  seven  to  ten  fathoms,  and  when  the  water  shoaled 
the  frigate's  speed  was  checked  until  the  lead  again 
showed  deepening  water.  In  this  manner  she  continued 
the  chase  before  the  wind,  until,  Tripoli  being  only  three 
miles  distant,  it  was  seen  that  the  enemy  would  gain 


216  THE  WAR  IN  THE  MEDITERRANEAN.  1803. 

the  harbor,  when  the  courses  were  hauled  up  and  the 
helm  was  put  aport.  But  it  was  some  time  before 
the  Philadelphia  lost  her  headway,  and  when  the  lead 
showed  eight  fathoms  she  was  still  making  eight  knots. 
The  next  lead  showed  seven  fathoms,  and  fifteen  sec 
onds  later  the  cry  "  Six  half  !  "  startled  every  man  in 
the  ship,  for  she  was  rushing  through  the  water  at  a 
dangerous  rate.  The  helm  was  instantly  ordered  hard 
aport,  and  the  yards  were  braced  up,  rapidly  bringing 
her  up  to  the  wind,  so  that  the  crew  began  to  breathe 
more  easily.  The  frigate  was  headed  out  to  sea,  where 
it  would  naturally  be  supposed  the  water  would  deepen, 
but  at  this  moment  a  harsh,  grating  noise  was  heard, 
chilling  the  blood  of  every  seaman  aboard,  and  the  next 
instant  the  bow  shot  five  or  six  feet  out  of  water,  the 
shock  throwing  many  prostrate  on  the  deck  and  nearly 
wrenching  the  masts  out  of  the  frigate.  For  a  moment 
a  profound  silence  prevailed,  as  the  men  stared  in  each 
other's  pale  faces  and  breathlessly  awaited  the  outcome. 
But  a  few  sharp  taps  of  the  drum  recalled  them  to  their 
senses,  and  they  hastened  to  their  quarters  in  perfect 
order.  It  was  found  that  the  Philadelphia  had  twelve 
feet  of  water  forward  and  seventeen  abaft,  whereas  she 
required  eighteen  and  a  half  forward  and  twenty  and  a 
half  astern.  A  boat  was  then  lowered,  and  on  taking 
soundings  it  was  found  that  the  deepest  water  was 
astern. 

The  position  of  the  frigate  was  perilous  in  the  ex 
treme—hard  and  fast  aground  at  the  entrance  of  the 
enemy's  principal  harbor,  from  which  their  numerous 
gunboats  and  corsairs  would  soon  issue,  and  selecting 
their  positions  would  batter  her  to  pieces  with  im 
punity.  But  this  was  not  the  only  danger  that  threat 
ened  the  ship,  for  at  this  season  of  the  year  violent 
gales  rendered  navigation  in  the  Mediterranean  ex 
ceedingly  difficult,  and  should  a  heavy  wind  come  on 
while  the  Philadelphia  was  thus  fast  on  a  sunken 
ledge,  a  great  distance  from  the  nearest  land,  she  would 


1803. 


THE  LOSS  OF  THE  PHILADELPHIA. 


247 


soon  be  pounded  to  pieces  and  her  crew  left  to  struggle 
in  the  open  sea. 

Beset  with  these  appalling  dangers,  Captain  Bain- 
bridge  went  about  the  task  of  extricating  his  ship  from 
her  critical  position  with  that  coolness  and  decision 
which  characterized  him  as  a  commander.  The  sails 
were  set  aback,  topgallant  sails  loosed  and  heavy  pres 
sure  put  on  her,  the  wind  being  two  points  off  the  star 
board  bow.  The  anchors  were  then  thrown  overboard, 


Diagram  explaining  the  loss  of  the  Philadelphia. 

The  walled  city  of  Tripoli  is  seen  on  the  extreme  left  of  the  diagram  ; 
the  fine  dotted  lines  show  the  shoal  water,  while  the  heavier  clotted  lines 
show  the  courses  taken  by  the  Philadelphia  and  the  coaster  she  was  chas 
ing;  the  numerals  in  the  diagram  show  the  number  of  fathoms  of  water; 
the  shoal  represented  at  the  right  hand  upper  corner  of  the  diagram  is  the 
one  the  Philadelphia  ran  on.  The  Bashaw's  castle  is  represented  in  the 
lower  right-hand  corner  of  the  diagram  of  the  walled  city  of  Tripoli. 

guns  run  aft  and  the  water  started,  but  the  ship  held 
fast,  for  having  a  headway  of  seven  or  eight  knots 
when  she  struck  she  piled  a  mass  of  water  under  her 
bows  which,  together  with  the  ground  swell,  carried 
her  too  far  upon  the  reef  to  be  floated  off  by  ordinary 
means.  In  the  meantime  the  xebec  which  the  Phila 
delphia  had  been  chasing  gained  the  harbor  and  car- 


248  THE   WAR  IN  THE  MEDITERRANEAN.  1803. 

ried  news  of  the  disaster  to  Tripoli,  and  soon  afterward 
nine  gunboats  were  seen  sweeping  out  of  the  harbor. 
All  the  frigate's  guns,  except  a  few  carronades  astern, 
were  then  run  overboard,  together  with  all  the  anchors, 
and  by  the  time  this  was  done  the  Tripolitans  had  opened 
fire,  but  at  such  a  respectful  distance  that  it  was  not 
effective.  This  was  answered  by  the  quarter-deck  car 
ronades,  but  with  a  similar  lack  of  effect.  In  the  mean 
time  the  ship  drove  higher  up  on  the  rocks,  and  soon 
began  to  careen  so  as  to  render  her  guns  useless,  and 
at  half  past  six  o'clock  she  fell  over  on  her  port  beam. 
As  the  full  extent  of  the  disaster  dawned  upon  the 
natives  they  became  bolder,  and  gradually  took  posi 
tions  where  the  Americans  could  not  bring  their  guns 
to  bear  upon  them,  not  even  after  cutting  away  a  part 
of  the  stern.  Up  to  this  time  every  attempt  to  float  the 
frigate  had  been  futile,  and  as  a  last  resort  the  foremast 
was  cut  away,  and  in  falling  it  brought  the  main  top 
gallant  mast  with  it.  As  the  ship  still  remained  im 
movable  it  became  necessary  to  strike,  as  further  resist 
ance  would  only  result  in  useless  bloodshed  ;  but  before 
this  was  done  the  magazine  was  flooded,  the  pumps 
were  blocked,  and  holes  bored  through  the  bottom  of 
the  ship,  so  that  in  case  the  enemy  succeeded  in  float 
ing  her  off  she  would  sink.  At  five  o'clock  the  flag  was 
hauled  down.  The  Tripolitans  then  ceased  their  fire, 
but  mistrusted  the  sincerity  of  the  surrender,  nor  was 
it  until  nearly  dark  that  they  could  be  induced  to  take 
possession.  Then  began  a  scene  of  indiscriminate 
plundering  and  pilfering,  which  was  as  annoying  as 
it  was  contemptible.  The  swords,  epaulets,  watches, 
pocket  trinkets,  money,  clothing,  and  even  the  cravats 
and  outside  garments  of  the  officers  were  taken,  and  it 
was  only  by  a  most  determined  defense  that  Captain 
Bainbridge  saved  the  locket  around  his  neck  contain 
ing  a  miniature  of  his  wife.  The  prisoners,  three  hun 
dred  and  fifteen  in  all,  were  hurried  aboard  the  gun 
boats  and  taken  to  the  city. 


1803.  THE  LOSS  OF  THE  PHILADELPHIA.  249 

Captain  Bainbridge  gives  the  names  of  his  officers 
thus  taken  into  captivity  as  follows :  David  Porter 
(afterward  famous  for  his  cruise  in  the  Essex),  first 
lieutenant ;  Jacob  Jones  (afterward  the  hero  of  the 
Wasp-Frolic  fight),  second  lieutenant ;  Theodore  Hunt, 
third  lieutenant ;  Benjamin  Smith,  fourth  lieutenant ; 
William  S.  Osborn,  lieutenant  of  marines ;  John 
Ridgely,  surgeon ;  Jonathan  Cowdery,  surgeon's  mate  ; 
Nicholas  Harwood,  surgeon's  mate  ;  Keith  Spence, 
purser ;  Robert  Gamble,  Bernard  Henry,  Benjamin 
Franklin  Reed,  James  Gibbon,  Daniel  Tod  Patter 
son  (who  commanded  the  naval  forces  at  the  Battle  of 
New  Orleans  in  1815),  James  Biddle  (afterward  com 
mander  of  the  Hornet  in  her  fight  with  the  Penguin), 
James  Renshaw  (who  was  commander  of  the  Enter 
prise  and  did  good  service  in  the  War  of  1812),  Wal 
lace  Wormly,  William  Cut-bush,  Richard  R.  Jones  and 
Simon  Smith,  midshipmen.  Others  in  the  ship  were  : 
William  Anderson,  captain's  clerk;  William  Knight, 
sailing-master ;  William  Godby,  carpenter ;  George 
Hodger,  boatswain  ;  Richard  Stephenson,  gunner ; 
Joseph  Douglass,  sailmaker  ;  Minor  Forentine,  mas 
ter's  mate. 

About  ten  o'clock  that  night  the  boats  containing 
the  American  prisoners  reached  the  mole,  and  the  men 
were  conducted  under  a  strong  escort  through  the  nar 
row,  winding  streets,  amid  throngs  of  wondering  na 
tives,  to  the  Bashaw's  castle.  So  eager  was  that  poten 
tate  to  see  them  that,  notwithstanding  the  late  hour, 
they  were  ushered  into  his  audience  hall,  where  he  was 
seated  in  his  chair  of  state,  surrounded  by  his  divan 
and  guards,  all  richly  dressed  for  the  occasion.  After 
being  questioned  as  to  the  force  of  the  American 
squadron  and  the  naval  resources  of  the  United  States, 
the  prisoners  were  conducted  into  another  apartment, 
where  a  supper  was  provided  for  them.  At  midnight 
they  were  again  led  into  the  audience  chamber,  and 
were  consigned  to  the  special  care  of  Sidi  Mohammed 

19 


250  THE  WAR  IN  THE  MEDITERRANEAN.  1803. 

D'Ghiers,  the  Bashaw's  prime  minister.  They  were 
then  marched  through  the  town  to  the  building  for 
merly  occupied  by  the  American  consul,  which  was  to 
be  their  temporary  prison.  Although  it  was  now  one 
o'clock  in  the  morning,  the  Danish  consul,  Mr.  Nissen. 
paid  them  a  visit  of  condolence  ;  and  during  the  entire 
period  of  their  captivity  this  gentleman  did  his  utmost 
to  lighten  their  burdens,  and  interceded  in  their  be 
half. 

Two  days  after  the  disaster  a  strong  northerly  wind 
drove  the  water  of  the  Mediterranean  against  the  Afri 
can  coast  and  lifted  the  Philadelphia's  stern  off  the 
ledge  of  rocks,  although  her  bow  still  held  fast.  Ca 
bles  and  anchors  were  then  run  out  astern,  and  by 
hauling  altogether  the  ship  was  got  into  deep  water, 
the  holes  in  her  bottom  in  the  meantime  having  been 
plugged,  and  her  pumps  put  in  working  order.  On 
the  5th  of  November  she  was  towed  to  the  city  and 
anchored  about  a  quarter  of  a  mile  from  the  Bashaw's 
castle.  Her  guns,  anchors  and  shot  had  been  thrown 
overboard  in  the  shoal  water  on  the  reef,  but  were 
easily  raised  by  the  Turks  and  replaced  in  the  ship. 
The  court-martial  which  was  convened  to  inquire  into 
the  loss  of  this  frigate  gave  the  following  verdict : 

"  June  29,  1805.— The  court,  having  deliberated  on 
the  evidence  from  the  testimony  of  the  witnesses  heard 
in  this  case,  are  decidedly  of  opinion  that  Captain 
William  Bainbridge  acted  with  fortitude  and  conduct 
in  the  loss  of  his  ship,  the  United  States  frigate  PMla- 
delpMa,  on  the  31st  of  October,  1803,  and  that  no  de 
gree  of  censure  should  attach  itself  to  him  from  that 
event. 

4<  JAMES  BARRON,  President ; 

"  WILLIAM  EATON,  Acting  Judge  Advocate." 


CHAPTER  VI. 

THE   FKIGATE   PHILADELPHIA. 

THE  capture  of  the  Philadelphia  and  her  twenty- 
two  quarter-deck  officers,  besides  the  seamen,  gave  the 
war  a  far  more  serious  aspect  than  it  had  yet  assumed. 
The  enormous  ransom  the  Bashaw  expected  to  get 
for  these  prisoners  would  more  than  compensate  him 
for  the  losses  and  inconveniences  he  might  experience 
in  a  war ;  while  threats  of  torturing  officers  who,  as  he 
was  aware,  were  connected  with  some  of  the  most  influ 
ential  families  in  the  United  States  gave  him  a  hold  on 
the  Americans  of  which  he  well  knew  how  to  avail  him 
self.  This  state  of  affairs  put  the  Bashaw  in  a  genial 
frame  of  mind,  and  he  treated  the  American  officers 
with  much  leniency.  He  even  allowed  them  to  ride  out 
a  few  miles  into  the  picturesque  suburbs  of  Tripoli, 
and  they  forgot,  as  they  wandered  among  the  beautiful 
groves  of  olive,  fig  and  lemon  trees,  the  bitterness  of 
their  captivity.  During  the  thirty  days  of  the  Fast  of 
Ramadan,  when  the  Mohammedans  denied  themselves 
many  pleasures,  they  treated  their  prisoners  with  kind 
ness.  The  fast  was  followed  by  a  festival  of  five  days 
called  the  Biaram,  and  on  one  occasion  Captain  Bain- 
bridge  and  some  of  his  officers  were  ushered  into  the 
audience  hall  where  the  Bashaw,  surrounded  by  his 
children,  officers  of  the  divan  and  life  guards,  all  in 
gala  dress,  sprinkled  the  Americans  with  attar  of  roses 
and  fumigated  them  with  frankincense,  after  which 
Neapolitan  slaves  brought  in  coffee  and  sherbet. 

On  leaving  the  audience  hall  Captain  Bainbridge 
noticed  three  beautiful  little  boys  sitting  in  the  court- 

(251) 


252  THE  FRIGATE   PHILADELPHIA.  1803. 

yard,  the  sad  expression  on  their  faces  forming  a 
striking  contrast  to  the  gay  scenes  around  them.  The 
American  officers  were  told  that  these  children  belonged 
to  the  deposed  Bashaw  of  Tripoli,  Hamet  Karamanli, 
and  were  held  as  hostages  for  the  good  behavior  and 
meek  submission  of  their  father,  who  was  a  wanderer 
among  the  Mamelukes  of  Egypt.  Noticing  that  much 
covert  sympathy  for  the  children  was  shown  by  the 
people  in  the  castle  it  occurred  to  Captain  Bainbridge 
that  the  deposed  Bashaw,  with  the  assistance  of  the 
American  squadron,  might  make  a  serious  revolt  against 
the  usurper  of  the  throne,  against  whom  the  United 
States  was  carrying  on  war.  How  this  idea  was  carried 
out  will  be  shown  in  another  chapter. 

Not  many  weeks  after  the  loss  of  the  Philadelphia  a 
messenger  abruptly  entered  the  room  occupied  by  Cap 
tain  Bainbridge  and  told  him  that  the  Bashaw  desired 
to  see  him  at  once.  When  ushered  into  the  presence 
of  the  despot,  Captain  Bainbridge  was  informed  that 
a  Tripolitan  ship  had  been  captured  by  the  John 
Adams  and  that  the  prisoners  had  been  treated  harsh 
ly,  and  it  was  intimated  that  if  they  were  not  released 
the  Americans  in  Tripoli  would  be  subjected  to  the 
severest  treatment.  This  was  only  the  first  of  the 
Bashaw's  attempts  to  frighten  his  captives,  and  the 
Americans  in  the  squadron,  into  concessions  by  threats 
of  torture.  Captain  Bainbridge  replied  that  the  Ameri 
cans  had  always  treated  their  Tripolitan  prisoners  with 
kindness,  and  he  did  not  believe  that  they  would  now 
do  otherwise.  As  this  reply  was  not  satisfactory,  the 
Bashaw  ordered  that  at  nine  o'clock  on  the  following 
morning  the  American  officers  be  removed  from  their 
comfortable  quarters — which  were  due  to  the  efforts  of 
Mr.  Nissen,  the  Danish  consul — to  the  loathsome  prison 
in  the  castle.  At  the  appointed  hour  the  chief  slave 
driver  with  his  underlings  marched  the  officers  through 
several  streets  to  the  common  prison  in  which  were 
confined  the  crew  of  the  ship.  In  this  filthy  place, 


1803.        A  PLAN  TO   DESTROY  THE  PHILADELPHIA.         253 

which  was  ordinarily  used  for  smoking  hides,  they 
were  obliged  to  remain  without  food,  except  a  little 
black  bread  and  water,  which  was  offered  by  the  sea 
men  as  a  part  of  their  own  allowance.  In  the  even 
ing  a  visit  of  condolence  was  paid  by  the  admiral,  the 
renegade  Scotchman  Lisle,  who  urged  Captain  Bain- 
bridge  to  accede  to  the  Bashaw's  wishes.  The  latter 
replied  with  firmness  that,  as  he  was  a  prisoner,  the 
Bashaw  could  subject  him  to  torture  or  could  "lop 
off"  his  head,  but  "he  can  not  force  me  to  commit  an 
act  incompatible  with  the  character  of  an  American 
officer."  Finding  that  the  officers  could  not  be  swerved 
from  this  determination,  the  Bashaw  on  the  following 
day  returned  them  to  their  former  quarters. 

It  was  not  long  before  Captain  Bainbridge,  with  the 
assistance  of  Mr.  Nissen,  managed  to  open  communi 
cations  with  Captain  Edward  Preble.  In  one  of  these 
letters — written  with  lemon  juice,  which  on  being  held 
to  the  fire  became  legible — dated  December  5,  1803, 
Captain  Bainbridge  suggested  the  feasibility  of  de 
stroying  the  Philadelphia  at  her  anchorage.  An  ex 
tract  from  this  letter  will  reveal  the  plan  :  "  Charter  a 
small  merchant  schooner,  fill  her  with  men  and  have 
her  commanded  by  fearless  and  determined  officers. 
Let  the  vessel  enter  the  harbor  at  night,  with  her  men 
secreted  below  deck ;  steer  her  directly  on  board  the 
frigate  and  then  let  the  officers  and  men  board,  sword 
in  hand,  and  there  is  no  doubt  of  their  success.  It 
will  be  necessary  to  take  several  good  row  boats  in  order 
to  facilitate  the  retreat  after  the  enterprise  has  been 
accomplished.  The  frigate  in  her  present  condition  is 
a  powerful  auxiliary  battery  for  the  defense  of  the 
harbor.  Though  it  will  be  impossible  to  remove  her 
from  her  anchorage  and  thus  restore  this  beautiful 
vessel  to  our  navy,  yet,  as  she  may  and  no  doubt  will 
be  repaired,  an  important  end  will  be  gained  by  her 
destruction." 

Having  settled  the  difficulty  with  the  Governor  of 


254  THE  FRIGATE   PHILADELPHIA.  1803. 

Tangiers,  Captain  Preble  arrived  at  Gibraltar  on  the 
15th  of  October  and  proceeded  to  Cadiz,  where  he  for 
mally  declared  his  intention  of  blockading  the  port  of 
Tripoli.  On  the  13th  of  November  he  sailed  from  Gi 
braltar  for  Algiers,  where  he  landed  the  United  States 
consul,  Mr.  Lear,  and  then  resumed  his  course  for 
Malta.  On  the  24th  he  spoke  to  the  British  frigate 
Amazon,  and  learned  of  the  loss  of  the  Philadelphia. 
He  arrived  at  Malta  on  the  27th  of  November,  and 
soon  afterward  made  for  Syracuse,  meeting  the  Enter 
prise,  Lieutenant  Decatur,  on  the  way.  Having  com 
pleted  his  final  preparations,  he  sailed  on  the  17th  of 
December  for  Tripoli. 

Captain  Preble  described  Tripoli  as  "a  city  well 
walled,  protected  by  batteries  judiciously  constructed, 
mounting  one  hundred  and  fifteen  pieces  of  heavy 
cannon,  and  defended  by  twenty-five  thousand  Arabs 
and  Turks ;  the  harbor,  protected  by  nineteen  gun 
boats,  two  galleys,  two  schooners  of  eight  guns  each 
and  a  brig  mounting  ten  guns,  ranged  in  order  of  bat 
tle,  forming  a  strong  line  of  defense  at  secure  moor 
ings  inside  a  long  range  of  rocks  and  shoals  extend 
ing  more  than  two  miles  to  the  eastward  of  the  town, 
which  from  the  harbor  protects  them  from  the  north 
ern  gales,  and  renders  it  impossible  for  a  vessel  of  the 
Constitutions  draft  to  approach  near  enough  to  destroy 
them,  as  they  are  sheltered  by  rocks,  and  can  retire 
under  that  shelter  to  the  shore,  unless  they  choose  to 
expose  themselves  in  the  different  channels  and  open 
ings  of  the  reef,  for  the  purpose  of  annoying  their 
enemies.  Each  of  their  gunboats  mounts  a  heavy 
18-  or  26-pounder  in  the  bow  and  two  brass  howitzers 
on  the  quarters,  and  carries  from  thirty-six  to  fifty 
men.  The  galleys  have  each  one  hundred  men ;  the 
schooners  and  brigs  have  about  the  same  number." 

In  the  midst  of  this  formidable  armament  lay  the 
Philadelphia,  with  her  guns  all  mounted  and  double 
shotted,  and  with  a  full  complement  of  Turks  and 


1803.  CAPTURE  OF  THE  MASTICO.  255 

Tripolitans.  She  was  moored  under  the  guns  of  the 
Bashaw's  castle,  within  range  of  all  the  batteries  ;  and 
besides  this  the  Tripolitan  cruisers,  galleys  and  gun 
boats,  fully  manned  and  armed,  were  anchored  between 
her  and  the  shore. 

On  the  23d  of  December  the  Enterprise,  Lieutenant 
Decatur,  was  dispatched  in  chase  of  a  Tripolitan  ketch, 
which,  when  overtaken,  was  found  to  be  the  Mastico, 
bound  for  Constantinople  with  female  slaves  for  the 
Sultan.  This  vessel  had  been  constructed  for  a  gun 
boat  by  the  French  in  their  expeditions  against  Egypt, 
and  from  their  service  it  had  passed  into  the  hands 
of  the  Tripolitans.  Soon  afterward  a  heavy  gale  com 
pelled  the  squadron  to  put  into  Syracuse  for  repairs. 
On  the  receipt  of  the  letter  from  Captain  Bainbridge, 
suggesting  the  feasibility  of  destroying  the  Philadel 
phia  at  her  moorings,  Captain  Preble  hesitated,  for 
he  had  no  vessel  that  sufficiently  resembled  a  Tripoli- 
tan  merchant  craft  to  deceive  the  Turks,  but  by  the 
capture  of  the  Mastico  this  difficulty  was  removed. 
Captain  Preble  then  broached  the  plan  to  Lieutenant 
Decatur,  who  immediately  volunteered  for  the  hazard 
ous  service.  The  ketch  was  armed  and  fitted  for  the 
desperate  attempt,  while  the  details  of  the  undertak 
ing  were  discussed  and  perfected  in  the  cabin  of  the 
Constitution  as  she  lay  at  anchor  in  Syracuse.  Not 
knowing  of  these  arrangements,  Lieutenant  Charles 
Stewart,  who  had  recently  arrived  in  the  Siren  from 
Gibraltar,  offered  to  cut  out  the  Philadelphia  with  the 
Siren's  men,  but  Captain  Preble  informed  him  that  he 
had  already  given  Lieutenant  Decatur  the  honor  of 
heading  this  enterprise. 

As  soon  as  the  nature  of  the  project  leaked  out 
volunteers  pressed  forward  from  all  sides,  the  officers 
and  men  being  eager  to  enlist  in  the  expedition  ;  but  the 
men  of  the  Enterprise  insisted  on  their  privilege,  as 
captors  of  the  ketch,  to  exclusive  participation  in  the 
attempt.  As  the  Mastico  could  carry  but  a  limited 


256  THE  FRIGATE   PHILADELPHIA.  1804. 

number,  only  a  part  of  the  Enterprise's  people  would 
be  needed  ;  and  assembling  his  crew  on  deck,  Lieuten 
ant  Decatur  explained  the  nature  and  perils  of  the  ex 
pedition  in  a  few  words,  and  then  asked  for  volunteers. 
Every  man  and  boy  in  the  schooner  offered  his  services, 
and  sixty-two  of  the  more  active  and  experienced  were 
selected.  Six  officers  from  the  Enterprise  and  six  from 
the  Constitution  were  then  selected  ;  they  were  :  Lieu 
tenants  Stephen  Decatur  and  James  Lawrence,  Midship 
men  Joseph  Bainbridge,  Jonathan  Thorn  and  Thomas 
Macdonough,  and  Surgeon's-Mate  Lewis  Herrmann,  of 
the  Enterprise ;  and  Midshipmen  Ralph  Izard,  John 
Rowe,  Charles  Morris,  Alexander  Laws,  John  Davis  and 
Thomas  O.  Anderson,  of  the  Constitution,  while  Salva- 
tore  Catalano  acted  as  pilot.  These,  with  sixty-two 
men,  made  a  total  of  seventy-five.  Lieutenant  Decatur 
had  strict  orders  not  to  attempt  to  bring  out  the  Phila 
delphia,  but  to  destroy  her  at  her  moorings,  and  for 
this  purpose  the  ketch  was  supplied  with  combustibles 
of  every  description  prepared  for  immediate  use. 

Among  the  volunteers  was  a  slender  youth,  nine 
teen  years  old,  who  belonged  to  the  Society  of  Friends 
in  Philadelphia,  but,  when  punished  for  some  trifling 
offense  he  had  preferred  the  perils  of  the  sea  to  the 
rebukes  of  his  elders.  As  he  was  not  included  in  the 
first  selection  of  volunteers,  he  begged  Lieutenant  De 
catur  to  be  allowed  to  accompany  the  expedition,  but 
was  told  that  he  was  not  needed.  As  the  ketch  was 
about  to  start  on  her  hazardous  enterprise  this  youth 
pressed  forward  and  entreated  to  be  taken  aboard ;  and 
being  sternly  questioned  as  to  such  an  unusual  request 
he  suddenly  hesitated,  and  remembering  the  prohibi 
tion  of  war  in  his  religion,  replied,  "I  wish  merely  to 
see  the  parts."  He  was  accepted,  and  was  one  of  the 
foremost  in  the  charge  on  the  Philadelphia's  forecastle. 

On  the  afternoon  of  February  9,  1804,  the  final  ar 
rangements  having  been  carefully  made,  the  Mastico 
left  Syracuse  for  Tripoli,  accompanied  by  tha  Siren, 


1804.  A  GALE  DELAYS  THE  ATTEMPT.  257 

Lieutenant  Charles  Stewart,  to  cover  the  retreat,  while 
the  other  ships  of  the  squadron  remained  at  Syracuse 
in  order  to  lull  the  enemy  into  a  greater  sense  of  se 
curity.  The  little  vessels  stretched  across  the  Medi 
terranean,  and  as  night  came  on  they  approached  the 
harbor  of  Tripoli ;  but  the  weather,  which  up  to  this 
time  had  been  favorable  for  the  attempt,  underwent 
one  of  the  sudden  changes  so  common  in  that  sea. 
The  wind  rose  with  increasing  violence,  and  the  waves 
ran  so  high  as  to  render  it  doubtful  if  the  ketch  would 
be  able  to  enter  the  port.  When  about  a  mile  to 
windward  of  the  town  the  vessels  anchored,  and  by 
this  time  the  gale  had  increased  to  such  fury  that 
the  pilot  pronounced  it  extremely  hazardous  to  ven 
ture  among  the  numerous  rocks  and  shoals.  Unwill 
ing  to  give  over  the  attempt,  Lieutenant  Decatur  sent 
Midshipman  Morris  and  the  pilot  in  a  boat  to  recon- 
noiter.  The  men  pulled  with  muffled  oars  close  to  the 
northern  passage,  and  found  that  the  predictions  of 
the  pilot  were  well  grounded  ;  for  not  only  would  the 
entrance  be  attended  with  great  risk,  but  the  sea 
breaking  over  the  rocks  would  make  it  impossible  to 
return,  and  Midshipman  Morris  put  back  to  the  ketch 
with  this  report.  In  attempting  to  get  aboard,  the 
boat  was  dashed  to  pieces,  and  it  was  only  by  the 
greatest  exertions  that  the  men  were  rescued.  In  the 
meantime  the  Siren  had  got  out  and  armed  her  boats 
to  cover  the  retreat,  but  they  were  compelled  to  re 
turn.  The  enterprise  was  necessarily  postponed  until 
the  weather  moderated ;  and  orders  were  given  to 
weigh  anchor,  but  such  was  the  violence  of  the  waves 
and  the  rolling  of  the  ketch  that  it  was  nearly  day 
light  before  this  could  be  done.  Lieutenant  Charles 
Stewart  and  several  men  of  the  Siren  were  injured 
by  the  capstan  running  away  with  the  bars.  After 
much  difficulty  and  loss  of  time  they  were  compelled 
to  cut  their  cables,  and  at  daybreak  they  had  scarcely 
got  out  of  sight  of  the  town.  Running  a  short  dis- 


258 


THE  FRIGATE  PHILADELPHIA. 


1804. 


tance  from  Tripoli  the  vessels  hove  to,  hoping  the 
weather  would  moderate  so  as  to  make  it  possible  to 
renew  the  attempt  on  the  following  night. 


Diagram  of  the  harbor  of  Tripoli. 

B,  shows  the  position  of  the  Philadelphia  when  recaptured  by  the 
Americans ;  the  dotted  line  shows  the  course  taken  by  the  Mastico. 

But  for  six  days  the  gale  continued  with  unabated 
fury,  tossing  the  schooners  about  in  a  most  alarming 
manner,  the  Mastico  especially  being  in  imminent 
danger  of  foundering  or  being  driven  on  the  rocks. 
The  sufferings  of  Lieutenant  Decatur  and  his  men 
were  much  aggravated  by  the  construction  of  the  ketch, 
which  was  of  only  thirty  or  forty  tons  burden,  and 
had  no  accommodations  whatever.  "  The  commander, 
three  lieutenants  and  the  surgeon  occupied  the  very 
small  cabin.  Six  midshipmen  and  the  pilot  had  a 
platform  laid  on  the  water  casks,  the  surface  of  which 
they  covered  when  they  lay  down  to  sleep,  and  at  so 
small  a  distance  below  the  deck  that  their  heads 
would  reach  it  when  seated  on  the  platform.  The 
marines  had  corresponding  accommodations  on  the 
opposite  side,  and  the  sailors  had  only  the  surface  of 
the  casks  in  the  hold.  To  these  inconveniences  were 
added  the  want  of  any  room  on  the  deck  for  exercise 
and  the  attack  of  innumerable  vermin,  which  our  prede- 


1804.  INSTRUCTIONS  FOR  BOARDING.  259 

cessors,  the  slaves,  had  left  behind  them."1  To  make 
matters  worse,  they  had  been  provisioned  for  a  few 
days  only,  and,  as  if  their  misfortunes  were  not  already 
heavy  enough,  the  salt  meat  was  found  to  be  spoiled  ; 
so  that  during  this  long  week  of  privation  and  hard 
ship  they  were  compelled  to  live  on  a  short  allowance 
of  bread  and  wrater. 

By  the  15th  the  weather  had  sufficiently  moderated 
to  make  a  renewal  of  the  attempt  possible.  Waiting 
until  dark,  the  vessels  again  approached  Tripoli,  but 
after  spending  the  night  in  sounding  and  getting  their 
bearings  they  found  they  had  gone  -too  far  eastward  to 
effect  their  object,  and  on  the  approach  of  day  they 
were  compelled  to  retire.  The  afternoon  of  the  16th 
gave  promise  of  a  favorable  night*  Decatur  then 
cheered  his  men  with  a  speech,  in  which  he  set  forth 
the  details  of  the  attack,  which  were  simple  and  con 
cise.  First  of  all,  the  spar  deck  of  the  Philadelphia 
was  to  be  cleared,  and  then  the  gun  deck.  The  whole 
party  having  united  in  this,  they  were  to  divide  as  fol 
lows  :  Lieutenant  Decatur,  with  Midshipmen  Izard  and 
Rowe  and  fifteen  men,  to  keep  guard  of  the  upper  deck ; 
Lieutenant  Lawrence  and  ten  men  with  Midshipmen 
Laws  and  Macdonough,  to  fire  the  berth  deck  and  for 
ward  storeroom  ;  Midshipmen  Joseph  Bainbridge  and 
John  Davis  and  ten  men  to  fire  the  wardroom  and 
steerage  ;  and  Midshipman  Morris  and  eight  men  to 
fire  the  cockpit  and  after  storeroom.  Midshipman 
Thorn,  with  the  gunner  and  surgeon  and  thirteen  men, 
was  detailed  to  remain  in  the  ketch ;  while  Midship 
man  Anderson  was  to  man  the  cutter,  pick  up  all  boats 
found  alongside,  and  prevent  as  many  of  the  enemy 
as  possible  from  swimming  ashore.  The  watchword 
"  Philadelphia  "  was  then  given,  and  strict  orders  were 
issued  not  to  use  a  musket,  pistol  or  firearm  of  any  kind, 
except  in  case  of  great  emergency.  The  general  plan 

1  Autobiography  of  Commodore  Morris. 


260  THE    FRIGATE   PHILADELPHIA.  1804. 

was,  first  to  clear  the  ship  of  the  enemy,  fire  her  in 
several  places  with  combustibles  prepared  for  that  pur 
pose,  and  then  to  get  as  far  on  the  return  as  possible 
before  the  alarm  could  be  given  to  the  batteries  or  be 
fore  the  light  from  the  burning  frigate  would  enable 
the  Tripolitans  to  fire  with  accuracy.  Having  taken 
every  precaution  that  prudence  and  forethought  could 
suggest,  and  receiving  a  re-enforcement  of  seven  men 
from  the  Siren,  Lieutenant  Decatur  gave  the  order  to 
weigh  anchor,  and  at  dusk  both  vessels  filled  away  for 
Tripoli.  The  Siren  had  been  newly  painted  and  her 
rig  was  changed  so  as  to  still  further  deceive  the  enemy. 

When  they  were  about  five  miles  from  the  town 
the  night  was  well  advanced,  but  as  it  was  clear  and 
starlit  the  shore  and  harbor  could  easily  be  seen.  The 
daring  adventurers  now  bade  adieu  to  their  friends  in 
the  Siren,  and  amid  many  Godspeeds  boldly  set  out  on 
their  dangerous  mission.  Finding  that  he  would  gain 
the  harbor  too  soon,  Lieutenant  Decatur  put  out  buck 
ets  and  other  drags  astern  to  lessen  her  speed  without 
shortening  sail.  As  the  wind  gradually  died  out  these 
drags  were  removed,  and  the  ketch  made  nearly  two 
knots  an  hour.  About  nine  o'clock  the  Mastico  gained 
the  harbor  by  the  eastern  passage  and  was  in  full  view 
of  the  city.  Now  that  she  had  cut  loose  from  her 
consort  and  was  standing  alone  into  the  enemy's  strong 
hold  the  men  began  to  realize  that  they  were  entering 
upon  an  undertaking  from  which  the  chances  of  escap 
ing  were  slight  indeed.  Around  them  lowered  the  shores 
of  the  harbor,  crowned  with  dark  batteries,  whose  rows 
of  silent  cannon  seemed  ready,  at  the  touch  of  a  spring, 
to  close  on  the  audacious  little  ketch  like  the  jaws  of  a 
trap  ;  while  away  back  in  the  farthermost  corner  of  the 
bay,  snugly  moored  under  the  guns  of  the  Bashaw's 
castle,  lay  the  Philadelphia. 

But  it  was  too  late  to  think  better  of  their  daring, 
and  the  men  nerved  themselves  anew  to  their  desperate 
task.  Onward  went  the  ketch  into  the  very  gates  of 


1804.  THE  MASTICO  ENTERS  THE   HARBOR.  261 

death,  the  gradually  failing  wind  causing  her  to  creep 
slowly  and  stealthily  along  like  a  prowling  beast  of 
prey.  An  occasional  fishing  craft  that  lazily  floated 
past  her,  or  the  boats  that  glided  between  the  shipping 
and  the  shore,  and  the  lights  from  the  city  that  came 
shimmering  across  the  water  were  the  only  signs  of  a 
wakeful  enemy.  Soon  the  Philadelphia  was  distinctly 
made  out.  Her  main  and  mizzen  topmasts  were  housed 
(her  foremast  had  been  cut  away  when  she  was  on  the 
reefs),  her  lower  yards  were  on  the  gunwales,  and  her 
numerous  well-lighted  ports  seemed  to  eye  the  ketch 
with  distrust.  "As  we  advanced  into  the  harbor," 
wrote  Midshipman  Charles  Morris,  afterward  captain, 
u  strict  silence  was  enjoined  and  observed.  The  injunc 
tion,  however,  appeared  to  be  unnecessary.  No  one 
seemed  to  be  disposed  to  enter  into  conversation,  but  to 
be  absorbed  by  his  own  reflections.  My  own  thoughts 
were  busy,  now  reverting  to  friends  at  home,  now  to  the 
perils  we  were  about  to  meet.  '  Should  I  be  able  to 
justify  the  expectations  of  the  former  by  meeting  prop 
erly  the  dangers  of  the  latter  ? '  '  How  was  I  prepared 
for  the  death  which  might  possibly  be  my  fate  ? '  These 
thoughts,  with  others  of  a  somber  character,  mixed  with 
calculations  to  secure  a  prominent  position  when  board 
ing,  passed  rapidly  through  my  mind  ;  and  the  minds 
of  others  were,  no  doubt,  employed  on  similar  subjects." 
As  the  Mastico  drew  near  to  the  object  of  the  ex 
pedition  Lieutenant  Decatur  ordered  his  men  to  con 
ceal  themselves,  as  such  an  unusual  number  might 
arouse  suspicion  among  the  people  on  shore.  Many 
therefore  lay  flat  on  the  deck  close  to  the  bulwarks, 
while  others  concealed  themselves  behind  barrels  and 
masts  and  in  dark  corners,  but  six  or  eight  of  the  crew 
dressed  as  Maltese  sailors  purposely  remained  in  the 
light  of  the  moon,  A  little  before  ten  o'clock  the  ketch 
came  within  hailing  distance  of  the  frigate,  when  Lieu 
tenant  Decatur  ordered  the  quartermaster  at  the  wheel 
to  steer  so  as  to  foul  her  at  the  bow,  where  they  would 


262  THE  FRIGATE  PHILADELPHIA.  1804. 

be  less  exposed  to  her  guns.  With  a  grim  ' '  Ay,  ay,  sir, " 
the  veteran  tar  brought  the  Mastico^s  bow  around,  head 
ing  directly  for  the  Philadelphia? s  fore  chains.  While 
they  were  yet  at  a  considerable  distance  the  anxious 
silence  was  broken  by  a  challenge  from  a  sentinel  in 
the  frigate,  and  at  the  sound  of  his  voice  the  American 
officers  and  seamen  tightened  their  grip  on  their  weap 
ons,  riveted  their  eyes  on  their  leader,  and  made  an  in 
voluntary  movement  as  if  to  spring,  ready  for  the  word 
to  board.  Lieutenant  Decatur,  who  had  stationed  him 
self  beside  the  pilot,  instructed  him  to  reply  to  the  sen 
tinel  that  the  ketch  had  just  arrived  from  Malta,  had 
survived  a  terrible  gale  and,  her  anchors  having  been 
lost,  desired  to  make  fast  to  the  frigate's  cables  until  an 
other  could  be  procured  from  the  shore.  The  Turkish 
commander,  who  was  recognized  by  Catalano,  asked 
what  brig  that  was  in  the  offing — for  it  seems  that,  in 
spite  of  all  precautions,  the  Sir  en  had  been  seen.  With 
much  tact  Decatur  instructed  Catalano  to  reply  that  it 
was  the  Transfer,  formerly  a  British  man-of-war,  which 
had  been  purchased  at  Malta  for  the  Tripolitans,  and 
was  anxiously  awaited  at  Tripoli.  The  pilot  was  then 
ordered  to  engage  the  attention  of  the  frigate's  people 
by  telling  them  with  what  commodities  the  ketch  was 
laden.  During  this  conversation  many  of  the  Turks 
were  seen  leaning  over  the  bulwarks  or  peering  through 
the  ports,  searching  the  Mastico  with  curious  eyes. 

The  little  vessel  at  last  was  almost  within  reach  of 
the  frigate's  fore  chains,  and  the  order  to  board  was 
momentarily  expected,  when  a  "  cat's  paw,"  or  a  light 
puff  of  air  from  the  south,  struck  her  sails  and  took  her 
aback.  This  unlocked  for  mishap  placed  the  ketch  in 
a  perilous  position,  for  she  now  backed  and  soon  was 
exposed  to  the  frigate's  entire  port  broadside,  not  more 
than  twenty  yards  distant.  Had  the  least  nervousness 
or  a  premature  movement  on  the  part  of  the  men  dis 
covered  to  the  Turks  the  real  character  of  the  ketch, 
they  would  have  blown  her  out  of  the  water.  At  this 


1804,  THE  CRITICAL  MOMENT.  263 

critical  moment  Decatur  showed  those  qualities  which 
in  after  years  ranked  him  among  our  greatest  naval 
heroes.  Not  the  slightest  indication  of  alarm  could  be 
discovered  in  his  bearing  or  voice,  and  the  manoeuvre 
necessary  to  regain  the  frigate's  fore  chains  was  exe 
cuted  as  coolly  and  naturally  as  if  in  the  open  sea. 
The  Masticd's  boat  was  now  sent  out  to  make  fast  to 
one  of  the  ringbolts  in  the  Philadelphia's  fore  chains, 
so  that  they  could  haul  the  ketch  to  the  desired  posi 
tion,  but  the  Turks  also  had  lowered  a  boat  with  a 
hawser  aboard,  intending  to  secure  the  ketch  at  their 
stern  rather  than  at  their  cables,  which  would  have 
proved  a  serious  detriment  to  the  original  plan.  With 
great  self-possession  the  Americans,  as  they  were  re 
turning  to  the  ketch,  took  the  hawser  from  the  Tripo- 
litan  boat,  intimating  that  they  would  do  as  desired ; 
the  broken  Italian  used  in  their  discourse  and  the  great 
diversity  of  languages  in  the  many  coasters  trading 
in  the  Mediterranean  ports  serving  to  lull  any  possi 
ble  suspicions  of  the  Tripolitans.  The  line  which  had 
been  made  fast  to  the  frigate's  fore  chains  was  immedi 
ately  passed  along  the  Mastictfs  deck,  so  that  the  men 
could  haul  on  it  while  still  lying  down.  By  a  strong, 
steady  pull  they  checked  the  stern  board  of  the  ketch 
and  she  began  to  move  ahead  again.  This  forward  and 
diagonal  tension  caused  her  gradually  to  swing  along 
side  of  the  Philadelphia,  where  the  Turks  would  soon 
be  looking  directly  upon  her  decks  and  discover  the 
men  who  were  concealed  by  the  bulwarks.  Seeing  this 
danger,  Lieutenant  Decatur  quietly  but  emphatically 
urged  the  men  to  greater  exertion. 

While  they  were  about  ten  yards  from  the  much- 
desired  position  the  enemy  discovered  that  the  ketch 
still  carried  her  anchors,  and,  loudly  rebuking  the  pilot 
for  the  falsehood,  sent  a  man  down  their  fore  chains  to 
cut  the  rope  on  which  the  Americans  were  hauling.  The 
ketch  was  now  fairly  alongside,  so  that  the  men  lying 
on  her  decks  could  be  plainly  seen  in  the  moonlight ; 


264:  THE  FRIGATE   PHILADELPHIA.  1804. 

but  as  yet  no  alarm  seems  to  have  been  excited,  until 
one  Turk,  more  inquisitive  than  his  fellows,  leaned  far 
over  the  frigate's  side  and  saw  the  men  hauling  on  the 
line.  Instantly  the  cry  "Amerikano!  Amerikano  ! " 
resounded  through  the  ship,  and,  followed  by  the 
rapid  shuffling  of  slipshod  feet  and  a  jargon  of  excited 
voices,  proclaimed  that  they  were  discovered  and  that 
further  concealment  was  unnecessary.  The  all-impor 
tant  object  was  to  haul  the  ketch  to  the  fore  chains 
before  the  enemy  could  cut  the  line,  so  the  Americans 
quickly  rising  to  their  feet  as  a  man  pulled  with  a  will ; 
and  although  the  Turks  succeeded  in  severing  the  line, 
yet  the  ketch  had  acquired  such  momentum  that  she 
was  carried  to  the  desired  spot  and  was  immediately 
secured.  Lieutenant  Decatur,  who  was  standing  with 
Midshipmen  Morris  and  Laws,  ready  to  spring  aboard, 
now  jumped  with  the  two  midshipmen  to  the  Phila 
delphia?  s  main  chain  plates  and  then  gave  the  order 
to  board.  Midshipman  Laws  endeavored  to  enter  one 
of  the  frigate's  ports,  but  the  pistols  in  his  boarding 
belt  were  caught  between  the  guns  and  the  port. 
Lieutenant  Decatur  slipped  while  jumping,  so  that 
Midshipman  Morris  was  the  first  to  gain  the  Phila 
delphia}  s  deck,  where  he  was  quickly  joined  by  Decatur 
and  Laws.  The  Americans,  with  cutlass  and  board 
ing-pike  in  hand,  were  now  swarming  over  the  port 
bulwarks  and  through  the  gun  ports.  The  astounded 
Turks  ran  over  to  the  starboard  side  or  crowded  for 
ward  on  the  forecastle,  while  the  rapid  succession  of 
splashes  which  could  be  distinctly  heard  around  the 
ship  told  that  many  of  them  were  plunging  into  the 
water.  The  quarter-deck  was  soon  cleared,  when,  form 
ing  in  a  compact  body,  the  Americans  charged  forward 
and  drove  all  the  Tripolitans  on  the  forecastle  over 
board.  Hearing  the  disturbance,  many  Turks  came  on 
deck  from  below  to  learn  the  cause,  but  on  catching  a 
glimpse  of  the  Americans  they  cast  themselves  into  the 
sea  or  secreted  themselves  in  the  hold.  The  boarders 


hoarding  the  Philadelphia. 


1804  FIRING   THE  PHILADELPHIA.  265 

next  ran  below,  where  some  .resistance  was  encountered, 
but  after  a  brief  struggle  the  enemy  gave  way,  so  that 
in  ten  minutes  from  the  time  the  first  man  appeared 
over  the  bulwarks  the  ship  was  captured,  not  a  firearm 
of  any  description  having  been  used.  While  in  the 
cabin  Midshipman  Morris  met  Lieutenant  Decatur  com 
ing  in  the  door,  and  owing  to  the  darkness  the  Ameri- 
can  commander  mistook  his  midshipman  for  one  of  the 
Tripolitans,  and  was  about  to  cut  him  down  when  the 
watchword  < '  Philadelphia  "  arrested  the  blow.  Accord 
ing  to  agreement,  a  rocket  was  sent  up,  notifying  the 
Siren  of  the  capture  of  the  Philadelphia. 

The  men  now  set  to  work  passing  up  the  combus 
tibles  from  the  ketch,  and  in  a  few  minutes  this  was 
accomplished.  Then  forming  in  their  several  divisions 
they  proceeded  to  the  work  of  destruction,  which  was 
done  in  a  most  thorough  and  expeditious  manner.  In 
fact,  their  movements  were  so  rapid  that  the  party 
which  had  been  detailed  to  fire  the  cockpit  had  diffi 
culty  in  getting  back,  owing  to  the  dense  volumes  of 
smoke  from  the  wardroom.  Captain  Morris,  in  his 
Autobiography,  says :  "  Passing  through  the  wardroom, 
which  I  found  deserted,  I  awaited  in  the  cockpit  the 
men  who  had  gone  for  the  combustibles.  These  were 
so  delayed  that  we  had  none  when  the  order  was  given 
to  set  fire  ;  but  as  they  came  a  moment  after,  they  were 
distributed  and  fire  communicated  before  we  left  our 
station.  In  the  meantime  the  fire  on  the  deck  above 
us  had  communicated  so  rapidly  that  it  was  with  no 
small  difficulty  and  danger  that  our  party  reached  the 
spar  deck  by  the  forward  hatchways."  By  the  time 
the  last  party  regained  the  deck  flames  were  bursting 
from  the  ports  and  hatches  ;  and  seeing  that  the  frig 
ate  could  not  possibly  be  saved,  Lieutenant  Decatur 
gave  the  order  to  return  to  the  Mastico.  He  had  not 
remained  on  the  frigate  more  than  twenty-five  minutes. 
Lieutenant  Decatur  was  the  last  man  to  leave  the  Phila 
delphia,  and  the  bow  of  the  Mastico  had  actually  swung 
20 


266  THE   FRIGATE  PHILADELPHIA.  1804. 

off  when  he  jumped  into  her  shrouds  and  made  his  way 
to  her  deck.  On  returning  to  the  ketch  the  adventurers 
found  that  they  still  had  great  dangers  to  face,  for  so 
rapid  had  been  the  progress  of  the  conflagration  that 
the  Mastico  herself  was  in  imminent  danger  of  being 
consumed.  With  all  haste  they  tried  to  shove  her  off 
with  poles  and  sweeps,  but  in  spite  of  their  greatest 
efforts  she  could  not  be  moved  entirely  clear.  She 
dropped  astern,  with  her  boom  afoul,  and  her  jigger 
flapping  against  the  frigate's  quarter  gallery.  All  this 
time  flames  came  pouring  out  of  the  Philadelphia's 
ports  and  leaping  into  the  cabin  of  the  ketch,  where  all 
the  ammunition  of  the  party,  covered  only  by  a  tarpau 
lin,  was  stored.  For  some  time  it  could  not  be  discov 
ered  what  kept  the  Mastico  fast  to  the  frigate's  side, 
but  after  a  search  it  was  found  to  be  the  hawser  with 
which  the  Turks  had  secured  her  to  the  frigate's  stern. 
In  the  excitement  of  the  moment  this  had  been  forgot 
ten,  but  it  was  now  quickly  severed  with  cutlasses,  and 
the  ketch  slowly  drew  away  from  the  burning  frigate. 

But  the  Americans  seemed  to  escape  from  one  dan 
ger  only  to  face  another,  for  by  this  time  the  flames 
had  made  such  progress  as  to  envelop  the  ship  in  a 
mass  of  fire,  which  illuminated  the  bay  for  miles 
around  and  enabled  the  gunners  on  shore  to  aim  with 
accuracy.  The  Tripoli  tans  fortunately  had  not  as 
yet  sufficiently  recovered  from  their  surprise  to  man 
their  guns,  but  realizing  the  danger  the  Americans 
took  to  their  sweeps,  eight  to  a  side,  and  put  forth 
their  best  efforts  to  get  out  of  gunshot.  As  the  Mas 
tico  came  fairly  into  view  of  the  gunboats  they  opened 
fire,  and  aroused  from  their  stupor  by  the  sound  of 
these  guns  the  Tripolitans  on  shore  rushed  to  their 
batteries  and  began  firing.  Soon  the  shot  fell  thick 
and  fast,  splashing  the  water  on  all  sides  of  the  ketch, 
the  missiles  striking  the  sea  between  the  Mastico  and 
the  burning  frigate,  threw  up  a  spray  that  was  radi 
ant  with  all  the  colors  of  the  rainbow.  But  the  enemy 


1804.  THE  BURNING  FRIGATE.  267 

were  too  excited  to  aim  well,  and  although  the  ketch 
was  within  half  a  mile  of  their  heaviest  guns,  in  plain 
sight,  only  one  shot  struck  her,  and  that  passed  through 
the  topgallant  sail.  The  efforts  of  the  men  quickly 
urged  the  ketch  out  of  range,  and  at  the  entrance  of 
the  harbor  they  were  met  by  boats  with  men  from  the 
Siren,  under  Lieutenant  James  R.  Caldwell,  who  had 
pulled  beyond  the  rocks  in  their  anxiety  to  learn  the 
fate  of  their  comrades,  or  in  case  of  pursuit  to  cover 
their  retreat. 

The  men  now  rested  on  their  sweeps  while  they 
gazed  on  the  work  of  destruction.  The  burning  ship 
presented  a  spectacle  of  awful  grandeur.  Long  tongues 
of  flame  thrust  themselves  from  the  numerous  port 
holes,  licking  her  black  sides,  while  the  tar,  melted  by 
the  blistering  heat,  boiled  and  ran  down  in  huge  drops. 
The  flames  ran  up  the  masts  and  shrouds,  curving  over 
at  the  tops  like  glowing  columns  with  fiery  capitals. 
Soon  the  well-oiled  rigging  above  the  tops  became 
ignited,  and  suggested  fiery  serpents  twisting  and 
writhing  up  and  down  the  masts,  leaping  from  yard  to 
yard  or  falling  from  a  dizzy  height,  struggling  in  mid 
air  with  each  other  in  hideous  contortions,  and  on 
reaching  the  water  vanishing  in  hisses.  Every  now  and 
then  a  cannon,  becoming  heated,  was  discharged,  the 
recoil  sending  up  myriads  of  sparks,  which,  caught  in 
the  currents  of  hot  air,  were  swept  upward  in  the  smoke 
until  they  gradually  fluttered  out  of  sight  in  the  black 
heavens.  The  shipping  in  the  harbor  loomed  up  behind 
the  frigate,  and  the  white  walls  of  the  city  with  its  bat 
teries,  castle,  mosques  and  graceful  minarets  formed  an 
indistinct  background,  while  the  inhabitants,  startled 
from  repose,  hurried  to  and  fro  in  the  steep,  narrow 
streets,  or,  assembling  on  their  housetops  and  other 
vantage  points,  gazed  upon  the  conflagration  with  dis 
may  and  terror.  Then  a  terrific  explosion  took  place, 
and  the  burning  frigate  was  rent  into  fragments,  which 
were  hurled  upward  in  the  night,  and,  reaching  the 


268  THE  FRIGATE  PHILADELPHIA.  1804. 

zenith,  gracefully  curved  and  slowly  descended  in  a 
cascade  of  fire.  The  beautiful  pyrotechnical  display 
was  over,  and  the  harbor  was  left  again  enshrouded  in 
darkness  and  silence.  The  adventurers  once  more  bent 
to  their  sweeps  and  pulled  beyond  the  rocks,  where 
they  were  soon  telling  to  eager  listeners  the  story  of  one 
of  the  most  audacious  and  successful  exploits  in  naval 
history,  or  as  Nelson,  who  at  this  time  was  in  command 
of  the  British  blockading  fleet  before  Toulon,  expressed 
it,  "  the  most  bold  and  daring  act  of  the  age." 

No  trustworthy  estimate  of  the  loss  the  Tripolitans 
sustained  in  this  affair  has  ever  been  made.  Twenty 
men  were  reported  killed  during  the  struggle  for  the 
lower  gun  deck,  but  there  is  no  doubt  that  many  more 
secreted  themselves  in  the  hold  and  perished  with  the 
ship.  The  remaining  Mussulmans  jumped  overboard, 
many  of  them  were  probably  drowned.  Only  one  pris 
oner  was  taken,  a  wounded  Tripoli  tan  who  swam  to  the 
ketch ;  and  although  the  party  had  received  strict  or 
ders  not  to  take  prisoners,  he  was  allowed  to  remain  on 
board.  Of  the  Americans,  only  one  man  was  wounded. 

Having  accomplished  their  mission,  the  Mastico  and 
the  Siren  made  sail  for  Syracuse  and  arrived  there  on 
the  19th  of  February,  where  Captain  Preble  awaited 
them  with  great  anxiety.  The  ketch  was  rechristened 
Intrepid,  in  honor  of  this  brilliant  achievement.  Lieu 
tenant  Decatur  was  promoted  to  the  rank  of  captain, 
and  he  received  a  sword  from  Congress,  while  the  offi 
cers  and  men  serving  under  him  were  warmly  ap 
plauded.  Nearly  all  of  them  gave  conspicuous  service 
to  their  country  in  subsequent  wars. 

The  destruction  of  his  prize  greatly  exasperated  the 
Bashaw,  and  he  vented  his  Oriental  rage  upon  his  pris 
oners.  He  ordered  the  prison  to  be  immediately  sur 
rounded  by  a  cordon  of  troops  and  all  intercourse  be 
tween  the  officers  and  the  men  to  be  interrupted,  lest 
some  exploit  even  more  daring  than  the  capture  of  the 
frigate  under  the  guns  of  his  castle  might  be  attempted. 


1804.  THE  REMAINS  OP  THE  PHILADELPHIA.  269 

On  the  1st  of  March  the  officers  were  conducted  under 
a  strong  guard  to  the  castle  and  confined  in  a  cold,  damp 
apartment,  with  one  opening  at  the  top,  grated  with  iron 
bars,  which  was  their  only  means  of  receiving  light  and 
air.  In  this  place  they  were  entombed  during  the  rest 
of  their  captivity.  What  remained  of  the  Philadelphia 
after  the  explosion  sank  to  the  bottom  of  the  harbor  of 
Tripoli,  where  it  still  lies.  When  Captain  Breese  in  the 
Cumberland,  in  1844,  visited  Tripoli,  he  caused  a  por 
tion  of  the  wreck  to  be  raised,  and  had  the  water-logged 
timber  made  into  paper  knives  and  other  souvenirs. 


CHAPTER  VII. 

THE   BOMBAKDMENT   OF   TEIPOLI. 

ALTHOUGH  the  destruction  of  the  Philadelphia  re 
moved  from  the  harbor  of  Tripoli  its  most  formidable 
auxiliary  battery,  the  place  was  still  well  defended  and 
the  Bashaw  was  far  from  being  subdued  or  inclined 
to  accept  terms  satisfactory  to  the  Americans.  Cap 
tain  Preble  therefore  determined  to  maintain  a  regular 
blockade  of  the  port  and  to  begin  a  bombardment  of 
the  town  as  soon  as  he  could  collect  a  sufficient  force. 
The  Siren,  Master-Commandant  Charles  Stewart,  and 
the  Nautilus,  Master-Commandant  Richard  Somers, 
were  immediately  stationed  off  the  port,  and  early  on 
the  morning  of  March  21,  1804,  they  discovered  a  brig 
in  the  offing  endeavoring  to  get  to  sea.  On  making 
oat  the  American  cruisers  she  made  every  effort  to 
beat  back  into  the  harbor ;  at  the  same  time  several 
Tripolitan  gunboats  were  observed  hovering  near,  ap 
parently  with  the  intention  of  supporting  her  in  case 
of  attack.  The  Nautilus  bore  down  on  the  gunboats, 
and  as  she  approached  they  prudently  withdrew  to  the 
harbor.  The  Siren  in  the  meantime  overhauled  the 
brig,  which  proved  to  be  the  privateer  Transfer,  from 
Malta,  with  an  English  commission,  carrying  sixteen 
guns  and  eighty  men.  When  captured  she  had  her 
crew  at  quarters,  but  no  resistance  was  made.  She  was 
seized  for  violation  of  the  blockade  and  sent  to  Syra 
cuse,  and  on  being  taken  into  the  service  under  the 
name  of  the  Scourge  she  was  placed  under  the  com 
mand  of  Lieutenant  John  Herbert  Dent,  the  acting  cap 
tain  of  the  Constitution.  Subsequent  information  in- 

(270) 


1804.  GALLANT  ATTACK  ON  A   FELUCCA.  271 

duced  Captain  Preble  to  believe  that  the  brig  actually 
belonged  to  the  Bashaw  of  Tripoli  and  was  waiting  to 
take  his  consul  to  Malta. 

In  the  following  month,  April,  a  felucca  was  discov 
ered  attempting  to  run  into  the  harbor  under  cover 
of  a  fog,  and  the  blockading  force  immediately  made 
after  her.  The  Siren,  being  the  nearest,  was  rap 
idly  coming  up  when  the  chase,  in  order  to  prevent 
capture,  ran  ashore  about  ten  miles  west  of  Tripoli. 
The  Siren's  boats,  under  the  command  of  Lieutenant 
James  R.  Caldwell,  were  then  sent  against  the  enemy, 
but  on  nearing  land  one  of  the  boats  struck  a  rock,  and 
the  delay  caused  by  this  mishap  enabled  the  Tripoli- 
tan  cavalry  to  assemble  in  such  numbers  as  to  render 
a  boat  attack  impracticable.  Lieutenant  Caldwell, 
however,  did  not  give  over  the  attempt  until  several 
of  his  men  were  killed  or  wounded,  without  having 
inflicted  any  loss  on  the  enemy.  The  Argus  with  the 
schooners  then  ran  inshore  as  close  as  the  shoals 
would  allow,  and  opened  such  an  effective  fire  that  in 
a  few  minutes  the  felucca  was  destroyed.  The  Siren 
at  the  same  time  gained  a  position  at  the  opening  of 
the  ravine  behind  which  the  Turks  were  concealed, 
and  delivered  a  fire  of  grape  and  canister  that  dis 
lodged  them.  The  felucca  was  said  to  have  been  laden 
with  salt,,  a  commodity  of  great  value  to  the  Tripoli  tans 
at  that  time. 

Captain  Preble  had  been  actively  engaged  in  mak 
ing  arrangements  for  the  bombardment  of  Tripoli,  and 
by  the  25th  of  July  the  following  vessels  had  been 
collected  off  the  harbor :  The  44-gun  frigate  Constitu 
tion  (flagship),  Captain  Preble  ;  the  16-gun  brig  Siren, 
Master-Commandant  Charles  Stewart ;  the  16-gun  brig 
Argus,  Master-Commandant  Isaac  Hull ;  the  12-gun 
schooner  Nautilus,  Master-Commandant  Richard  Som- 
ers  ;  the  12-gun  schooner  Vixen,  Master-Commandant 
John  Smith  ;  the  14-gun  brig  Scourge  (Transfer),  Lieu 
tenant  John  Herbert  Dent ;  and  the  12-gun  schooner 


272  THE  BOMBARDMENT  OF  TRIPOLI.  1804. 

Enterprise,  Lieutenant  James  Decatur.  Besides  this 
force,  Captain  Preble,  through  the  kindness  of  the  King 
of  the  Two  Sicilies,  secured  the  loan  of  two  bomb  ves 
sels  and  six  gunboats.  The  number  of  men  in  this 
squadron  all  told  was  one  thousand  and  sixty. 

4  <  The  gunboats, "  said  Captain  Preble,  4 '  are  con 
structed  for  the  defense  •  of  harbors ;  they  are  flat- 
bottomed  and  heavy,  and  do  not  sail  or  row  tolerably 
well.  They  were  never  intended  to  go  to  sea,  and  I 
find  can  not  be  navigated  with  safety  unless  assisted 
by  tow-ropes  from  larger  and  better  sailing  vessels, 
nor  even  then  in  very  bad  weather.  The  bomb  ves 
sels  are  about  thirty  tons,  carrying  a  13-inch  brass  sea 
mortar  and  forty  men  ;  the  gunboats,  twenty-five  tons, 
carry  a  long  iron  24-pounder  in  the  bow,  with  a  com 
plement  of  thirty-five  men."  A  comparison  of  the  force 
of  Captain  Treble's  squadron  with  the  strength  of 
Tripoli  will  show  how  overwhelming  were  the  odds 
against  which  the  Americans  had  to  contend. 

Comparative  forces  before  Tripoli. 

Heavy  guns.        Light  guns.         Total.  Men. 

American:         48  86  134  1,060 

Tripolitans  :     134  66  200  25,000 

Such  was  the  inclemency  of  the  weather  after  the 
arrival  of  the  squadron  off  Tripoli,  July  25th,  that 
not  until  the  afternoon  of  the  28th  were  the  vessels 
able  to  stand  toward  the  coast.  Scarcely  had  they 
anchored  when  the  wind  shifted  from  the  east-south 
east  to  the  north-northwest,  and  soon  increased  to  a 
gale,  which  placed  the  squadron  in  a  perilous  position, 
so  at  6  P.  M.  the  signal  to  weigh  anchor  was  given. 
The  gale  increased  in  violence  until  the  31st,  when  it 
blew  a  hurricane.  By  the  3d  of  August  it  had  suffi 
ciently  moderated  to  allow  a  near  approach  to  the 
coast.  In  this  gale  the  Constitution  had  her  close- 
reefed  foresail  and  main  topsail  blown  from  the  bolt 
ropes  into  ribbons,  and  had  not  the  wind  been  from  the 


1804.  GUNBOATS  ADVANCE  TO  ATTACK.  273 

south,  which  gave  them  the  protection  of  a  weather 
shore,  the  gunboats  and  bomb  vessels  undoubtedly 
would  have  been  towed  under. 

At  12.30  P.  M.,  August  3d,  Captain  Preble  advanced 
to  the  attack.  Observing  that  the  enemy  had  formed 
their  gunboats  into  two  divisions,  nine  at  the  eastern 
entrance  and  five  at  the  northern,  he  determined  to 
begin  on  them.  Accordingly  the  six  American  gun 
boats  and  the  two  bombards  were  dispatched  to  attack 
the  enemy  at  the  eastern  entrance.  The  first  division 
consisted  of  gunboat  No.  1,  Master-Commandant  Rich 
ard  Somers  ;  gunboat  No.  2,  Lieutenant  James  Deca- 
tur  ;  gunboat  No.  3,  Lieutenant  Joshua  Blake.  Second 
division,  gunboat  No.  4,  Captain  Stephen  Decatur ; 
gunboat  No.  5,  Midshipman  Joseph  Bainbridge ;  gun 
boat  No.  6,  Sailing-Master  John  Trippe.  In  gunboat 
No.  1  were  Midshipmen  Charles  Goodwin  Rldgeley  and 
William  Miller,  the  former  afterward  rising  to  a  high 
rank  in  the  navy.  In  gunboat  No.  4  were  Midshipmen 
Jonathan  Thorn  and  Thomas  Macdonough,  and  in  gun 
boat  No.  6  were  Midshipmen  John  D.  Henley  and  David 
Deacon.  The  two  bombards  were  commanded  by  Lieu 
tenant  John  Herbert  Dent  and  Lieutenant  Thomas 
Robinson,  Jr. 

These  boats  immediately  made  for  the  enemy.  Only 
Nos.  2,  4  and  6  succeeded  in  weathering  the  point,  but 
these,  led  by  the  impetuous  Captain  Stephen  Decatur, 
boldly  dashed  on  to  engage  three  times  their  force. 
Reserving  his  fire  until  at  close  quarters,  Captain  De 
catur  discharged  the  long  gun,  which  was  loaded  with 
bags  of  musket  balls  filled  with  one  thousand  bullets 
each,  and  then  laid  the  first  Tripolitan  gunboat  along 
side.  Gallantly  seconded  by  Midshipmen  Jonathan 
Thorn  and  Macdonough  and  twenty-two  of  his  seamen, 
who  were  armed  with  pistols,  sabers,  pikes  and  toma 
hawks,  he  boarded,  and  a  short  but  fierce  struggle  took 
place.  The  Tripolitan  boat  was  divided  in  the  middle 
by  an  open  hatchway,  and  as  the  Americans  came  in  at 


274:  THE  BOMBARDMENT   OF  TRIPOLI.  1804. 

one  end  of  the  boat  the  enemy  retreated  to  the  other, 
leaving  a  space  between  them.  For  a  moment  there 
was  a  pause  as  each  party  glared  at  the  other  across  the 
opening  to  discover  what  move  would  next  be  made,  but 
Captain  Decatur  did  not  give  them  long  to  wait,  and 
charging  with  his  men  along  the  gangway  on  each 
side  of  the  hatch  he  cut  down  the  remaining  Turks 
or  drove  them  into  the  sea,  while  eight  of  them  ran 
below  and  were  made  prisoners.  So  deadly  had  been 
the  fire  of  gunboat  No.  4  that  the  Turkish  commander 
was  riddled  with  fourteen  bullets.  Hauling  down  the 
Tripolitan  colors  and  returning  to  gunboat  No.  4,  Cap 
tain  Decatur  began  towing  his  prize  to  a  place  of  safety. 
In  the  meantime  gunboat  No.  2,  Lieutenant  James 
Decatur  (brother  of  Stephen),  had  singled  out  an  ene 
my's  boat,  and  reserving  his  fire  until  alongside,  he 
delivered  his  grape  and  musketry  with  such  effect 
that  the  Tripolitans  surrendered.  But  while  stepping 
aboard  to  take  possession  he  was  suddenly  set  upon 
by  the  treacherous  Turkish  commander  and  mortally 
wounded  in  the  forehead  with  a  pistol  shot.  Before 
the  vessel  could  be  secured  the  enemy  fled.  The  news 
of  this  affair  reached  Stephen  Decatur  while  he  was 
towing  his  prize  out  of  range,  and  casting  her  adrift  he 
turned  about  and  went  in  pursuit  of  his  brother's  mur 
derer.  Revenge  stimulated  the  Americans  to  such  ex 
ertions  that  soon  their  boat  ran  alongside  the  fieeing 
Turk,  and  after  pouring  in  a  fire  of  grape  and  musket 
ry  they  boarded  in  the  smoke.  Captain  Decatur  soon 
espied  the  Turkish  commander,  a  man  of  powerful 
build,  and  rushing  upon  him  made  a  lunge  with  his 
boarding-pike.  The  Mussulman  parried  the  thrust, 
and  seizing  the  weapon,  wrenched  it  from  Decatur's 
hands  and  aimed  a  blow  at  his  breast  which  Decatur 
guarded,  but  in  so  doing  broke  his  sword  short  off  at 
the  hilt.  The  Turk  instantly  made  another  lunge,  and 
this  time  Captain  Decatur  partially  warded  off  the  pike 
but  received  ugly  flesh  wounds  on  his  arm  and  chest. 


1804.  A  DESPERATE  HAND-TO-HAND  FIGHT.  275 

Before  the  blow  could  be  repeated  lie  sprang  within 
the  weapon  and  closed  with  the  Mussulman  in  a  des 
perate  hand-to-hand  fight.  In  this  his  antagonist 
proved  his  superiority,  for  he  soon  threw  Decatur  and 
pinned  him  to  the  deck  with  an  iron  grip  on  his  throat, 
while  with  his  disengaged  hand  he  endeavored  to  draw 
the  shorter  of  his  two  yataghans,  which  were  carried 
especially  for  such  close  work. 

While  the  two  leaders  were  thus  struggling,  their 
respective  crews  had  rushed  to  their  assistance,  so 
that  they  became  the  center  of  a  fierce  conflict.  Now 
that  they  had  fallen  to  the  deck,  the  surging  mass 
of  desperate  men  toppled  over  them  and  piled  up  in 
an  inextricable,  smothering  heap.  The  Turkish  com 
mander  succeeded  in  drawing  his  yataghan,  but  could 
not  immediately  free  his  arm  to  strike  the  fatal  blow. 
At  this  instant  Captain  Decatur,  who  had  also  been 
struggling  to  reach  some  weapon,  succeeded  in  drawing 
a  pistol  from  his  pocket,  and  though  now  gasping, 
blinded  and  almost  suffocated,  he  passed  his  hand  over 
the  Mussulman's  body  to  feel  for  some  vital  part,  well 
knowing  that  if  the  bullet  failed  to  cause  instant  death 
his  own  life  was  lost.  Pressing  the  muzzle  of  the  pistol 
against  the  Turk's  ribs,  as  near  his  heart  as  he  could 
determine,  Decatur  fired,  and  the  shot  proved  instantly 
fatal.  As  soon  as  the  surviving  Tripolitans  learned 
that  their  leader  was  slain  they  gave  way  on  all  sides 
and  jumped  overboard.  During  this  melee  a  Turk 
raised  his  scimiter  to  strike  a  blow  at  Decatur's  head, 
when,  seeing  the  peril  of  his  commander,  a  sailor, 
Reuben  James,  whose  arms  had  been  disabled,  inter 
posed  his  head  and  received  a  terrible  gash  in  his 
skull.  By  this  noble  sacrifice  Decatur's  life  was  un 
doubtedly  saved.1 

While  this  fight  was  going  on,  Sailing-Master  John 
Trippe,  in  gunboat  No.  6,  also  conducted  himself  with 

1  For  a  sketch  of  Reuben  James'  life  see  Appendix. 


276  THE  BOMBARDMENT  OF  TRIPOLI.  1804 

conspicuous  gallantry.  Reserving  his  fire  until  within 
the  enemy's  smoke,  he  discharged  his  grape  and  mus 
ketry  and  then  boarded  with  cutlass  in  hand.  But 
the  American  boat  rebounded  after  fouling  and  was 

out  of  reach  be 
fore  she  could  be 
secured  along 
side,  leaving  Mr. 
Trippe  with  Mid 
shipman  John 
D.  Henley  and 

A  brass  cannon  captured  from  the  Tripolitans,     nine  men  aboard 
now  in  Annapolis. 

the  enemy,   cut 

off  from  both  retreat  and  support.  The  situation  ad 
mitted  of  no  half-way  measures,  and  Mr.  Trippe  prompt 
ly  singled  out  the  Turkish  commander  and  engaged  him 
in  a  personal  combat,  well  knowing  that  the  Tripoli- 
tans  would  flee  if  their  leader  fell.  The  boarders  brave 
ly  backed  his  lead  and  attacked  the  Mussulmans  with 
the  energy  of  despair.  The  Turk  succeeded  in  giving 
Mr.  Trippe  several  saber  cuts  on  the  head  and  soon 
afterward  two  on  the  breast,  while  he  had  received  no 
hurt  in  return.  Suddenly  making  a  rush  forward,  the 
Turk  brought  the  American  officer  down  on  one  knee 
with  a  fearful  blow  on  the  head,  but  while  in  this 
position  Mr.  Trippe  seized  the  opportunity  to  run  his 
powerful  foe  through  the  abdomen  with  a  boarding- 
pike  and  laid  him  on  the  deck.  Midshipman  Henley, 
supposing  the  Turk  to  be  dead,  stepped  over  his 
body,  but  the  Mussulman,  conscious  of  the  indignity, 
although  in  the  agonies  of  death,  seized  Henley's 
ankle  and  gave  it  a  violent  wrench  before  he  expired. 
During  this  struggle  a  Turk  aimed  a  blow  at  Sailing- 
Master  Trippe  from  behind,  but  before  it  fell,  Ser 
geant  Meredith,  of  the  marines,  pinned  the  Turk  to 
the  deck  with  his  bayonet.  Mr.  Trippe  received  eleven 
saber  cuts  in  the  affair.  He  spoke  in  high  terms  of 
the  gallantry  of  Midshipman  Henley,  who  supported 


1804.  HEROISM  OP  RICHARD  SOMERS.  277 

Mm.  By  this  time  gunboat  No.  6  had  again  come 
alongside,  and  her  crew  hastened  to  the  rescue  of  their 
comrades.  As  usual,  the  Tripolitans,  seeing  that  their 
leader  had  fallen,  considered  themselves  at  liberty  to 
flee,  and  were  now  plunging  into  the  sea  on  all  sides 
and  swimming  to  their  other  boats  or  to  the  rocks  in 
the  harbor.  This  vessel  was  the  largest  of  the  Bashaw's 
gunboats.  Such  was  the  confusion  and  excitement  of 
the  moment  that  none  of  the  Americans  thought  of 
lowering  the  Tripolitan  flag,  and  the  Vixen,  observing 
her  coming  down  on  her,  apparently  manned  by  the 
enemy,  gave  her  a  broadside,  which  brought  down  the 
colors,  mast,  lateen  yard  and  all,  but  fortunately  in 
jured  no  one.  The  remaining  Tripolitan  gunboats  by 
this  time  had  fled  to  the  cover  of  their  batteries,  leav 
ing  three  vessels  out  of  the  nine  in  the  hands  of  the 
Americans. 

While  this  plucky  fight  had  been  going  on  at  the 
eastern  passage  the  larger  vessels  of  the  squadron  were 
maintaining  a  vigorous  bombardment  of  the  town 
from  the  northern  entrance.  Master -Commandant 
Richard  Somers,  in  gunboat  No.  1,  finding  that  he 
could  not  reach  the  enemy  at  the  eastern  passage, 
attacked  the  Tripolitan  gunboats  at  the  northern  en 
trance  single-handed,  and  they  retreated.  Not  satis 
fied  with  this,  Master-Commandant  Somers  pursued 
them  within  a  hundred  yards  of  a  battery  of  twelve 
guns,  which  up  to  this  time  had  restrained  its  fire 
lest  it  might  damage  the  fleeing  Tripolitans.  When 
gunboat  No.  1  gave  over  the  chase  and  turned  to  re 
treat  she  exposed  herself  to  the  entire  battery,  and  her 
destruction  seemed  inevitable  ;  but  at  this  moment  a 
shell  from  one  of  the  bombards  exploded  in  the  bat 
tery,  blew  up  the  platform  and  drove  the  gunners  un 
der  cover,  and  before  they  had  sufficiently  collected 
themselves  to  return  to  their  guns  the  gunboat  gained 
a  place  of  safety.  During  this  time  the  bomb  vessels, 
under  the  command  of  Lieutenant  John  Herbert  Dent 


278  THE  BOMBARDMENT   OF  TRIPOLI.  1804. 

and  Lieutenant  Thomas  Robinson,  although  covered 
with  spray  from  the  enemy's  shot,  maintained  a  steady 
and  well-directed  fire  and  threw  a  great  number  of 
shells  into  the  town.  At  4.30  p.  M.,  the  wind  having 
veered  around  to  the  north,  Captain  Preble  gave  the 
signal  to  retire,  and  the  vessels  with  their  prizes  re 
treated  in  good  order,  covered  by  a  heavy  cannonading 
from  the  Constitution,  the  brigs  and  the  schooners. 

Thus  closed  the  first  day's  bombardment  of  Tripoli. 
The  results  had  been  satisfactory  in  every  respect,  and 
thenceforth  the  enemy  could  not  be  induced  to  engage 
the  Americans  in  a  hand-to-hand  encounter — a  species 
of  warfare  in  wrhich  Mussulmans  had  been  deemed 
most  formidable.  Twice  their  five  gunboats  and  two 
galleys,  composing  the  center  division  and  the  reserve, 
attempted  to  row  out  to  the  assistance  of  their  com 
rades  at  the  eastern  passage,  and  both  times  they  were 
driven  back  by  the  brigs  and  schooners.  The  shore 
batteries  had  been  thoroughly  battered,  and  about 
fifty  shells  were  dropped  in  the  town.  At  times  the 
Constitution  was  within  two  cable  lengths  of  the  rocks 
and  within  three  cable  lengths  of  the  batteries,  all  of 
which  were  silenced  the  moment  her  guns  were  brought 
to  bear,  but  when  she  passed  out  of  range  they  opened 
again.  The  frigate  was  most  exposed  when  wearing 
and  tacking,  and  the  need  of  another  heavy  frigate 
was  felt.  The  manner  in  which  the  Constitution  was 
handled  during  this  fight  excited  the  admiration  of  all 
witnesses,  especially  the  American  prisoners  in  Trip 
oli.  The  frigate  boldly  stood  into  the  harbor,  deliber 
ately  shortened  sail,  with  the  men  on  the  yards  and 
everything  going  on  as  calmly  as  if  in  a  friendly  har 
bor.  Then  she  would  come  to  and  discharge  her  for 
midable  broadside  with  great  effect. 

Of  the  enemy's  nineteen  gunboats,  three  were  sunk 
in  the  harbor,  while  the  decks  of  several  were  nearly 
cleared  of  men  by  shot,  and  many  ships  in  the  harbor 
were  injured.  The  two  gunboats  captured  by  Captain 


1804.  RESULTS  OF  THE  FIRST  ATTACK.  979 

Decatur  had  thirty-three  officers  and  men  killed,  and 
twenty- seven  prisoners  were  taken  in  them,  nineteen  of 
whom  were  wounded.  The  prize  of  Sailing-Master  John 
Trippe  lost  fourteen  killed,  and  twenty-two  prisoners 
were  taken,  seven  of  whom  were  wounded.  Many  Tri- 
politans  were  wounded  and  drowned,  of  whom  no  ac 
curate  list  or  estimate  can  be  made.  The  American  loss 
was  one  killed,  Lieutenant  James  Decatur,  and  thir 
teen  wounded.  Gunboat  No.  5,  Midshipman  Joseph 
Bainbridge,  had  her  main-yard  shot  away,  while  the 
rigging  and  sails  of  the  brigs  and  schooners  were  con 
siderably  cut.  The  Constitution,  although  exposed  to 
the  fire  of  the  enemy's  batteries  fully  two  hours,  had 
only  one  man  wounded.  A  24-pound  shot  passed  nearly 
through  the  center  of  the  mainmast,  thirty  feet  from 
the  deck,  the  main  royal  yard  and  sail  were  shot  away, 
while  two  lower  shrouds,  two  backstays,  and  some  run 
ning  rigging  were  cut  through.  Captain  Preble  him 
self  had  a  narrow  escape.  While  the  ship  was  wear 
ing,  a  32-pound  shot  came  through  a  stern  port  on  a 
direct  line  for  his  body,  but  fortunately  it  struck  on 
the  breech  of  a  quarter-deck  gun,  and  broke  into  frag 
ments  that  flew  about  the  quarter-deck,  which  was 
crowded  with  men.  Only  one  marine,  however,  was 
hurt  by  it.  The  officers  who  were  especially  mentioned 
for  their  gallantry  in  this  brilliant  affair,  besides  those 
already  named,  were  Lieutenant  Charles  Gordon,  Cap 
tain  John  Hall  and  Second-Lieutenant  Robert  Green- 
leaf,  of  the  marines,  Midshipmen  Jonathan  Thorn, 
Thomas  Macdonough,  Charles  Goodwin  Rldgeley  and 
William  Miller,  and  Sailing-Master  Nathaniel  Harriden. 

From  the  3d  to  the  7th  of  August  the  squadron 
rode  at  anchor  about  two  leagues  north  of  Tripoli,  re 
pairing  damages  and  altering  the  rig  of  the  captured 
gunboats,  which  were  found  to  be  much  better  adapted 
for  this  service  than  the  vessels  secured  from  Sicily. 
They  were  numbered  7,  8  and  9. 

On  the  night  of  August  5th,   while   Midshipman 


280  THE  BOMBARDMENT  OF  TRIPOLI.  1804. 

Charles  Morris  was  in  a  boat  on  guard  close  to  the  rocks 
forming  the  harbor  of  Tripoli,  he  suddenly  found  him 
self  in  the  presence  of  a  strange  vessel.  Without 
waiting  to  learn  her  force  he  boarded  her  and  carried 
her  by  surprise,  and  found  that  she  was  a  French  priva 
teer  that  had  put  into  Tripoli  for  water.  Her  com 
mander  was  induced  to  return  fourteen  badly  wound 
ed  Tripolitans,  who  had  been  taken  prisoners,  to  the 
enemy.  These  prisoners  informed  the  Bashaw  that 
"  though  the  Americans  in  battle  were  fiercer  than 
lions,  yet  in  treatment  of  prisoners  they  were  even 
kinder  than  Mussulmans."  It  was  learned  that  the 
bombardment  of  the  3d  had  been  more  effective 
than  Captain  Preble  had  supposed.  Captain  Bain- 
bridge,  who  was  a  prisoner  in  Tripoli,  describes  it  as 
follows  :  "  A  number  of  guns  in  the  battery  were  dis 
mounted,  the  city  considerably  injured,  and  many  of 
the  inhabitants  killed.  A  great  portion  of  the  people 
and  all  the  foreign  consuls  fled  from  the  city,  with  the 
exception  of  the  benevolent  Mr.  Nissen.  So  devoted 
was  he  to  the  American  prisoners  that  he  remained  at 
the  risk  of  his  life  and  property,  in  order  that  he 
might  contribute  to  their  comfort.  In  one  of  the  at 
tacks  a  24-pound  shot  entered  the  window  of  a  small 
room  in  the  turret  where  Mr.  Mssen,  only  a  moment 
before,  had  been  examining  the  operations  of  the  squad 
ron.  At  the  commencement  of  the  bombardment  the 
Bashaw  surveyed  the  squadron  from  his  palace  win 
dows,  and  affected  to  ridicule  any  attempt  which  might 
be  made  to  injure  either  the  batteries  or  the  city.  He 
promised  the  spectators  who  were  on  the  terraces  that 
rare  sport  would  presently  be  enjoyed  by  observing  the 
triumph  of  his  boats  over  those  of  the  Americans.  In 
a  few  minutes,  however,  he  became  convinced  of  his 
error,  and  precipitately  retreated  with  an  humble  and 
aching  heart  to  his  bomb-proof  chamber. " 

At  9  A.  M.  on  the  7th  of  August  the  squadron  ad 
vanced  to  the  second  attack,  the  gunboats  Nos.  7,  8 


1804.        THE   MAGAZINE  OP  A  GUNBOAT  EXPLODES.         281 

and  9  being  commanded  by  Lieutenant  William  Mont 
gomery  Crane,  Lieutenant  James  R.  Caldwell,  and 
Midshipman  Jonathan  Thorn.  The  bombards  were  or 
dered  to  take  a  position  in  a  small  bay  west  of  the 
city,  where  only  seven  guns  could  be  brought  to  bear 
on  them,  while  at  the  same  time  they  could  annoy  the 
enemy  with  shells.  The  gunboats  were  ordered  to 
silence  this  battery,  and  the  brigs  and  schooners  were 
held  in  readiness  to  support  them  in  case  the  enemy's 
flotilla  should  venture  out  to  attack.  By  2  P.  M.  the 
vessels  had  taken  their  positions,  and  at  the  signal 
they  opened  fire  at  point-blank  range.  In  less  than 
two  hours  the  seven-gun  battery  had  been  silenced  with 
the  exception  of  one  piece,  while  the  others  were  prob 
ably  dismounted,  as  the  walls  were  demolished.  The 
Tripolitan  flotilla  did  not  venture  within  range,  al 
though  at  one  time  they  made  a  slight  advance.  While 
bringing  gunboat  No.  1  into  close  action,  Master-Com 
mandant  Richard  Somers  was  leaning  against  her  flag 
staff,  when  he  saw  a  shot  coming  on  a  line  with  his 
head.  By  stooping,  he  avoided  the  shot,  which  cut  the 
flagstaff  in  two,  after  which  he  coolly  resumed  his  po 
sition,  leaning  against  the  stump  of  the  staff.  At  3.30 
p.  M.  a  hot  shot  passed  through  the  magazine  of  gun 
boat  ~No.  8  and  blew  up  her  stern.  She  had  on  board 
twenty-eight  officers,  seamen  and  marines,  ten  of  whom 
were  killed  and  six  were  wounded.  Among  the  killed 
were  Lieutenant  James  R.  Caldwell,  first  lieutenant 
of  the  Siren,  and  Midshipman  John  S.  Dorsey,  both 
officers  of  great  promise.  At  the  time  the  disaster  oc 
curred,  Midshipman  Robert  T.  Spence  was  superin 
tending  the  loading  of  a  gun,  and  although  the  boat 
was  sinking  he  completed  the  task,  and,  firing  the  shot, 
jumped  into  the  water  with  his  men.  He  did  not 
know  how  to  swim,  but  grasping  one  of  the  gunboat's 
sweeps  he  managed  to  keep  afloat  until  he  was  picked 
up,  with  eleven  men,  by  boats  from  the  other  vessels. 
On  gaining  the  decks  of  the  gunboats  the  rescued  men 

21 


282  THE  BOMBARDMENT   OF  TRIPOLI.  1804. 

continued  the  fight  at  their  new  quarters  as  if  nothing 
had  happened.  Edmund  P.  Kennedy,  gunner's  mate, 
who  had  once  been  impressed  into  the  British  service, 
was  captain  of  this  gun  and  received  a  midshipman's 
commission  for  his  gallantry,  and  afterward  rose  to  a 
high  rank  in  the  navy.  But  the  loss  of  gunboat  No.  8 
did  not  abate  the  fury  of  the  attack,  which  was  main 
tained  with  spirit  until  5.30  P.  M.,  when  the  signal  to 
haul  off  was  given,  and  the  vessels  returned  to  their 
anchorage. 

During  this  day's  bombardment  the  Constitution, 
owing  to  an  unfavorable  wind,  was  unable  to  cannon 
ade  the  batteries,  so  that  the  latter  gave  their  undivided 
attention  to  the  gunboats.  Forty-eight  shells  and  about 
five  hundred  24-pound  shot  were  fired.  Gunboat  No. 
4  had  a  24-pound  shot  through  her  hull,  as  did  also 
gunboat  No.  9,  the  latter  killing  two  men.  Gunboat 
No.  6,  commanded  by  acting  Midshipman  Henry  Wads- 
worth,  of  the  Constitution,  had  her  lateen  yard  shot 
away,  while  other  gunboats  were  slightly  injured  in 
their  rigging  and  sails.  The  enemy's  loss  in  killed  and 
wounded  must  have  been  exceedingly  severe,  while 
that  of  the  Americans  was  twenty- two  killed  and  six 
wounded. 

At  the  time  of  this  attack  Keith  Spence,  the  father 
of  Midshipman  Robert  T.  Spence,  was  a  prisoner  in 
Tripoli.  The  brother  of  Midshipman  Joseph  Bain- 
bridge,  Captain  William  Bainbridge,  also  was  a  pris 
oner  in  Tripoli,  and  was  nearly  killed  by  a  heavy  shot 
that  struck  the  Bashaw's  castle.  It  is  said  that  several 
other  men  in  the  American  squadron  also  had  relatives 
who  were  prisoners  in  Tripoli,  and  the  Bashaw  kept 
them  in  his  castle  and  took  pains  to  inform  Captain 
Preble  of  that  fact,  hoping  it  would  divert  shot  to 
other  parts  of  the  town.  But  Captain  Bainbridge  wrote, 
through  the  assistance  of  Mr.  Nissen,  urging  the  Ameri 
cans  to  fire  at  the  Bashaw's  castle,  as  that  was  the  best 
means  of  annoying  him  and  bringing  him  to  terms. 


1804.  A  NIGHT  ATTACK  ON  THE  BATTERIES.  283 

While  the  bombardment  was  in  progress  a  sail  hove 
An  sight,  which  proved  to  be  a  large  man-of-war,  and 
soon  afterward  it  showed  a  square  blue  flag  with  a  red 
cross  on  it,  which  was  the  signal  of  the  28-gun  frigate 
John  Adams,  Master-Commandant  Isaac  Chauncey, 
bringing  news  of  the  promotion  of  Decatur  to  be  cap 
tain,  and  Lieutenants  Stewart,  Hull,  Smith  and  Somers 
to  be  masters-commandant.  Captain  Preble  was  ad 
vised  of  re-enforcements  consisting  of  four  frigates,  un 
der  Captain  Samuel  Barron,  which  would  arrive  shortly. 
This  determined  him  to  postpone  further  attack  until 
the  arrival  of  his  successor.  On  the  16th,  the  squadron 
being  in  great  need  of  water,  the  Enterprise,  Lieuten 
ant  Thomas  Robinson,  was  sent  to  Malta  for  a  sup 
ply.  At  three  o'clock  on  the  afternoon  of  August 
9th  Captain  Preble  went  aboard  the  Argus,  and  while 
she  was  standing  in  toward  the  town  for  the  purpose 
of  reconnoitering  the  state  of  the  defenses,  the  enemy 
opened  an  animated  fire,  and  one  of  their  heaviest  shot 
struck  the  brig  about  three  feet  short  of  the  water 
line,  raked  the  copper  off  her  bottom  under  water  and 
cut  the  plank  half  through. 

After  vainly  waiting  two  weeks  for  the  relief  squad 
ron,  Captain  Preble  on  the  night  of  the  24th  advanced 
to  the  third  attack.  In  this  engagement  the  John 
Adams  was  of  little  service,  as  she  had  left  her  gun 
carriages  to  be  forwarded  in  the  other  ships.  By  2 
A.  M.,  August  25th,  the  smaller  vessels  had  secured 
their  positions  and  opened  fire.  The  Constitution  was 
unable  to  get  in  range  for  lack  of  wind,  and  at  break 
of  day  the  ships  withdrew,  having  sustained  little  in 
jury,  and,  as  it  afterward  appeared,  caused  less.  The 
shells  used  during  these  bombardments,  purchased  at 
Messina,  proved  to  be  of  very  inferior  quality.  Cap 
tain  Bainbridge,  in  his  journal,  records  that  out  of 
the  forty-eight  shells  thrown  on  the  7th,  only  one  ex 
ploded.  Captain  Preble  afterward  discovered  that 
many  of  the  bombs  had  had  lead  poured  into  the  fuses. 


284  THE  BOMBARDMENT  OF  TRIPOLI.  1804. 

which  was  supposed  to  have  been  done  by  French 
agents  in  Sicily,  as  the  bombs  were  originally  pur 
chased  to  resist  an  expected  French  invasion. 

These  spirited  attacks,  however,  had  such  a  salu 
tary  effect  on  the  Bashaw's  resentment  against  the 
Americans  that  he  now  reduced  his  demand  for  ran 
som  to  five  hundred  dollars  a  man,  or  half  of  his  fig 
ures  on  the  7th  of  the  same  month.  Captain  Preble 
rejected  the  terms,  and  on  the  28th  prepared  for  a 
still  more  vigorous  attack.  While  the  larger  vessels 
were  to  engage  the  batteries,  the  eight  gunboats,  un 
der  Captain  Decatur,  were  to  direct  their  attention 
to  the  thirteen  Tripolitan  galleys,  gunboats  Nos.  2 
and  3  on  this  occasion  being  commanded  by  Lieuten 
ant  Charles  Gordon  of  the  marines  and  Sailing- Master 
Brooks  of  the  Argus.  After  taking  their  places 
within  pistol  shot  of  the  rocks  on  the  night  of  Au 
gust  28th,  the  larger  gunboats,  at  three  o'clock  in  the 
morning  of  the  29th,  opened  a  heavy  fire,  covered  by 
the  Siren,  Master-Commandant  Charles  Stewart ;  the 
Argus,  Master-Commandant  Isaac  Hull ;  the  Vixen, 
Master-Commandant  John  Smith  ;  the  Nautilus,  Lieu 
tenant  Reed  ;  and  the  Enterprise,  Lieutenant  Thomas 
Robinson.  The  attack  on  the  galleys  was  made  with 
great  spirit,  and  one  of  them  was  sunk,  two  were 
compelled  to  run  ashore,  and  the  others  were  put  to 
a  disorderly  flight.  On  the  approach  of  day  Captain 
Decatur's  flotilla  was  signaled  to  retire,  while  the  Con 
stitution  ran  within  musket  shot  of  the  mole  to  cover 
the  retreat.  Here  the  frigate  remained  three  quarters 
of  an  hour,  pouring  in  a  tremendous  fire  of  more 
than  three  hundred  round  shot,  besides  sweeping  the 
parapets  with  grape  and  canister.  The  gunboats  hav 
ing  reached  a  place  of  safety,  Captain  Preble  retired 
to  his  anchorage. 

The  enemy  suffered  heavily  in  this  attack.  A  large 
galliot  belonging  to  Tunis  was  sunk  at  the  mole,  while 
the  Tripolitan  galleys  and  gunboats  were  badly  cut 


1804.  THE  FIFTH  BOMBARDMENT  OF  TRIPOLI.  285 

up  and  lost  many  men.  The  gunboats,  after  the  flight 
of  the  galleys,  ran  close  up  to  the  town  and  fired  up 
ward  of  four  hundred  round  shot,  while  the  Consti 
tution's  cannonading  so  demoralized  the  Turks  that 
their  fire  was  ineffectual.  The  Constitution  had  sev 
eral  shot  through  her  sails,  and  a  few  shrouds,  stays, 
trusses,  chains  and  lifts  of  the  main  yard  were  carried 
away,  while  grapeshot  struck  different  parts  of  her 
hull.  None  of  the  seamen,  however,  were  injured.  A 
boat  belonging  to  the  John  Adams,  manned  by  Mas- 
ter's-Mate  John  Orde  Creighton  and  eight  men,  while 
in  tow  of  the  Nautilus,  was  sunk  by  a  double-head- 


Port  of  Tripoli. 

ed  shot,  which  killed  three  men  and  severely  wounded 
one.  The  only  injury  that  the  gunboats  received  was 
in  their  sails. 

For  about  a  week  after  this  attack  the  squadron 
was  deterred  from  resuming  the  bombardment  by  un 
favorable  winds,  but  at  2.30  P.  M.  on  the  3d  of  Septem 
ber  the  gunboats,  under  the  command  of  Captain  De- 
catur  and  Master-Commandant  Richard  Somers,  were 
ordered  to  engage  the  Tripolitan  flotilla.  The  latter 
opened  a  hot  fire  on  the  advancing  Americans  until 
within  musket  shot,  when  the  Tripolitan  vessels  fled. 
The  Constitution  made  for  the  batteries,  and  when 


286  THE  BOMBARDMENT  OF   TRIPOLI.  1804. 

within  grapeshot  distance  opened  her  broadside  against 
the  enemy's  seventy  guns.  After  firing  three  hundred 
round  shot  and  sweeping  the  batteries  with  grape  and 
canister,  Captain  Preble  signaled  the  boats  to  withdraw, 
and  soon  followed  them.  In  this  attack  about  fifty 
shells  and  four  hundred  round  shot,  besides  grape  and 
canister,  were  fired  at  the  enemy.  The  frigate  suffered 
heavily  in  her  rigging,  but  nothing  larger  than  a  grape- 
shot  struck  her  hull.  The  bombards  and  gunboats 
also  sustained  considerable  damage,  chiefly  in  their 
rigging.  Sailing-Master  Trippe  resumed  the  command 
of  gunboat  No.  6,  and  Midshipman  Charles  Morris  had 
charge  of  gunboat  No.  3.  Gunboat  No.  I  became  so 
leaky  as  to  require  constant  baling,  while  every  shroud 
was  carried  away.  Although  in  the  attacks  that  were 
made  after  the  arrival  of  the  John  Adams  that  ship 
was  unable  to  participate  for  want  of  gun  carriages, 
yet  Master  Commandant  Chauncey  and  his  men  were 
actively  engaged  in  the  Constitution  and  gave  valuable 
assistance. 

While  these  spirited  attacks  were  being  made,  the 
ketch  Intrepid,  in  which  Decattir  had  made  his  cele 
brated  capture  of  the  PMladelpMa,  had  been  fitted  up 
as  a  floating  mine  with  a  view  of  sending  her  into  the 
harbor  and  exploding  her  in  the  midst  of  the  Tripoli  tan 
shipping.  She  was  stripped  of  every  incumbrance, 
and  a  room  in  her  hold  just  forward  of  her  principal 
mast  was  planked  up  and  filled  with  one  hundred  bar 
rels  of  powder  in  bulk,  while  on  the  deck  immediately 
above  were  placed  one  hundred  9-inch  shells  and  fifty 
131-inch  shells,  besides  a.  quantity  of  shot,  kentledge 
and  pieces  of  iron.  Communicating  with  this  powder 
was  a  tube  leading  to  a  room  aft  which  was  filled 
with  combustibles  that  would  burn  fiercely,  thus 
frightening  off  boarders  by  the  apprehension  of  an  im 
mediate  explosion.  In  order  to  prevent  the  enemy 
from  firing  on  the  ketch  while  she  was  entering  the 
harbor,  it  was  intended  to  give  her  the  appearance  of  a 


1804,  A  FLOATING  MINE.  287 

blockade  runner.  Two  of  the  best  rowing  boats  "in  the 
squadron  were  placed  aboard  her  for  the  purpose  of 
bringing  the  men  out  after  the  lire  had  been  started. 

Captain  Preble  was  fully  aware  of  the  hazardous 
nature  of  the  enterprise,  and  for  that  reason  he  per 
sonally  superintended  every  detail  of  the  preparations, 
selecting  only  officers  of  tried  ability  and  good  judg 
ment.  The  exploit  of  Decatur  in  cutting  out  the  frigate 
Philadelphia  and  the  hand-to-hand  encounters  with 
the  Mussulmans,  together  with  the  dash  and  energy 
of  Preble  himself,  had  raised  the  spirit  of  the  officers 
in  the  American  squadron  to  the  highest  point  of  chiv 
alrous  daring,  so  that  when  volunteers  were  called  for 
the  officers  and  men  eagerly  pressed  forward  from  all 
sides.  Master-Commandant  Richard  Somers,  who  had 
led  one  of  the  divisions  of  gunboats  in  the  several 
attacks  on  the  enemy,  was  selected  to  command  the 
ketch,  while  Midshipman  Henry  Wadsworth  (an  uncle 
of  Henry  Wadsworth  Longfellow,  the  poet,  who  was 
named  for  him)  was  selected  as  second  in  command. 
With  two  such  gallant  officers  it  was  thought  unneces 
sary  to  allow  more  to  embark  in  the  ketch  except 
ten  seamen  to  man  her ;  but  at  the  last  moment  Mid 
shipman  Joseph  Israel,  who  had  pleaded  in  vain  to  be 
permitted  to  join  the  company,  managed  to  get  aboard 
unobserved,  and  when  discovered  he  was  allowed  to  re 
main.  Four  seamen  from  the  Nautilus  and  six  from 
the  Constitution  were  selected  from  the  volunteers  to 
man  the  ketch.  Their  names  were :  James  Simms, 
Thomas  Tompline,  James  Harris  and  William  Keith,  of 
the  Nautilus  /  William  Harrison,  Robert  Clark,  Hugh 
McCormick,  Jacob  Williams,  Peter  Penner  and  Isaac 
W.  Downes,  of  the  Constitution. 

A  few  days  before  the  ketch  started  Captain  Preble 
was  trying  a  port  fire  in  the  cabin  of  the  Constitution 
in  the  presence  of  several  officers,  when  one  of  their 
number,  who  was  timing  the  fuse  with  his  watch,  re 
marked  that  it  burned  too  long  and  might  enable  the 


288  THE  BOMBARDMENT   OF  TRIPOLI.  1804. 

enemy  to  board  and  extinguish  it  before  it  ignited  the 
magazine.  Hearing  the  remark,  Master-Commandant 
Somers  quietly  said,  "I  ask  for  no  port  fire  at  all." 
This  incident,  together  with  the  fact  that  he  had  ex 
pressed  a  determination  not  to  be  taken  alive  by  the 
Turks,  nor  to  allow  the  ketch  with  her  ammunition  to 
fall  into  the  hands  of  the  enemy,  plainly  indicates  the 
spirit  with  which  these  men  went  into  the  enterprise. 

All  the  arrangements  for  the  undertaking  having 
been  completed  the  expedition  only  awaited  favorable 
weather.  Once  or  twice  the  Intrepid  started  out  on 
her  desperate  mission  but  came  back  on  account  of  the 
lightness  of  the  air.  The  night  of  September  4th  came 
on  with  a  heavy  mist  covering  the  sea,  but  in  the  lighter 
haze  above  the  stars  were  visible,  and  the  minarets  of  the 
mosques  and  the  loftier  buildings  of  Tripoli  could  be 
made  out.  Orders  were  given  to  make  ready  to  sail. 
Conscious  of  the  desperate  nature  of  the  expedition, 
Somers  gave  the  men  who  had  volunteered  their  serv 
ices  a  last  chance  to  withdraw,  saying  that  he  wished 
no  man  to  accompany  him  who  would  not  prefer  being 
blown  up  to  being  taken  alive.  The  boat's  crew  gave 
three  cheers  by  way  of  an  answer,  and  each  man  in  turn 
asked  to  have  the  "honor"  of  applying  the  match. 
Before  starting  on  their  hazardous  journey  each  of  the 
seamen  disposed  of  his  personal  effects  among  his 
shipmates  as  if  he  were  at  the  point  of  death.  Many 
officers  visited  Somers  in  the  ketch  just  before  he 
got  under  way,  among  them  being  Captain  Stephen 
Decatur  and  Master-Commandant  Charles  Stewart. 
Decatur,  Stewart  and  Somers,  each  about  twenty-five 
years  old,  were  all  Philadelphia-bred  sailors  and  had 
been  unusually  intimate  in  their  professional  careers. 
They  all  felt  the  seriousness  of  the  hour,  and  what  few 
words  were  interchanged  were  spoken  in  a  low  tone. 
Somers,  in  whom  centered  the  chief  interest,  was  tran 
quil  and  grave.  When  this  trio  of  young  officers  was 
about  to  separate,  Somers  took  a  ring  from  his  finger, 


1804.  A  FLOATING  MINE.  289 

and  breaking  it  into  three  pieces  gave  each  of  his  com 
panions  a  part  and  retained  the  third  himself.  Just 
before  night  closed  in,  three  of  the  Tripolitan  gunboats 
were  seen  to  anchor  within  the  western  entrance, 
through  which  the  Intrepid  was  to  pass,  and  Decatur 
admonished  Somers  to  look  out  for  them  lest  they 
board  him  before  he  gained  the  desired  position  in  the 
harbor.  Somers  quietly  replied  that  the  Turks  had  be 
come  so  shy  that  he  thought  they  would  be  more  likely 
to  cut  and  run  than  advance  to  meet  him. 

At  eight  o'clock  in  the  evening  the  ketch  got  under 
way  with  a  fine  leading  breeze  from  the  east.  She  was 
accompanied  by  the  Argus,  the  Vixen  and  the  Nauti 
lus,  the  last  being  Somers'  own  vessel,  and  shortly 
afterward  the  Siren  weighed  anchor  by  the  special 
order  of  Captain  Preble  and  stood  toward  the  northern 
passage,  through  which  the  ketch  was  to  enter  the  har 
bor,  so  as  to  assist  in  picking  up  the  returning  boats. 

Arriving  off  the  northern  entrance  the  men  in  the 
ketch  bade  adieu  to  their  comrades  and  boldly  stood  out 
into  the  harbor.  The  last  man  in  the  squadron  to  hold 
communication  with  Master-Commandant  Somers  was 
First-Lieutenant  George  W.  Reed,  of  the  Nautilus. 
The  haze  hanging  over  the  sea  finally  swallowed  up 
the  ketch  like  the  mystery  that  afterward  enshrouded 
the  fate  of  these  adventurers.  Her  outlines  became 
indistinct,  and  finally  her  shadowy  form  melted  into 
the  surrounding  gloom.  Every  eye  in  the  little  vessels 
watching  outside  the  rocks  was  strained  on  the  spot 
where  the  sails  of  the  ketch  vanished  into  obscurity, 
and  so  great  w^s  the  anxiety  of  the  men  that  many 
thought  they  could  still  make  her  out,  though  this  was 
probably  the  effect  of  imagination.  Midshipman  Ridge- 
ley,  of  the  Nautilus,  which  ship  was  nearest  to  the 
rocks,  followed  the  ketch  with  the  aid  of  a  night  glass 
to  the  end,  but  he  could  not  distinguish  more  than  her 
outlines.  In  order  to  get  some  clew  to  the  movements 
of  the  ketch  many  of  the  watchers  leaned  over  the 


290  THE  BOMBARDMENT  OF  TRIPOLI.  1804. 

sides  of  the  vessel,  holding  lights  near  the  surface  of 
the  sea,  and  at  the  same  time  placing  their  ears  close 
to  the  water's  edge  in  the  hope  that  they  might  catch 
some  sound  which  would  reveal  her  whereabouts.  The 
silence  soon  became  so  oppressive  that  the  watchers 
found  themselves  breathing  with  difficulty,  and  the 
sweat  of  anxiety  started  from  every  pore,  while  each 
heart  throbbed  with  unaccustomed  violence.  The  faint 
est  ripple  of  the  water  against  the  sides  of  the  vessel 
was  eagerly  caught  at  as  being  the  sound  of  boats  re 
turning  with  the  adventurers,  while  every  splash  of  the 
waves  against  the  bows  or  the  chafing  of  the  cables  in 
the  hawse-holes  was  thought  to  be  the  sound  of  muffled 
oars.  By  way  of  relieving  the  unendurable  suspense 
the  watchers  began  to  pass  the  question,  "Have  you 
heard  anything  yet?"  but  always  with  the  same  in 
definite  answer. 

At  last  the  distant  report  of  a  cannon  proclaimed 
that  the  alarm  had  been  given.  This  was  followed  by 
a  rapid  discharge  of  artillery,  and  soon  the  brilliant 
flashes  of  guns  and  the  continuous  roar  of  heavy  ord 
nance  announced  that  every  battery  was  making  its 
angry  protest  against  the  stranger's  approach.  So 
great  had  been  the  anxiety  of  the  watchers,  that  many 
of  them  afterward  declared  that  it  was  several  hours 
between  the  time  the  ketch  was  lost  to  view  and  the 
sound  of  the  first  gun,  although  in  reality  it  was  not 
more  than  a  few  minutes.  The  cannonading  afforded 
a  welcome  relief,  but  owing  to  the  direction  of  the 
guns  it  gave  no  indication  of  the  position  of  the  ketch. 

About  ten  o'clock,  while  Master-Commandant  Stew 
art  and  Lieutenant  Carrol  were  standing  at  the  Siren's 
gangway  gazing  intently  into  the  night,  the  latter  sud 
denly  exclaimed,  "  Look  !  See  the  light ! "  and  far  out 
in  the  night  a  dim  light  was  seen  moving  in  a  waving 
line,  as  if  some  one  were  running  along  the  deck  of 
a  vessel  with  a  ship's  lantern  in  his  hand.  It  paused 
for  a  moment  and  then  dropped  out  of  sight,  as  if  the 


1804.  ANXIETY  OF  THE   WATCHERS.  291 

bearer  had  descended  into  a  hatchway,  again  leaving 
the  watchers  staring  into  the  night.  An  instant  later 
a  sheet  of  fierce  flame  leaped  heavenward,  followed  by 
a  terrific  explosion.  The  night  of  Egyptian  darkness 
had  changed  to  the  brilliancy  of  the  midday  sun,  blind 
ing  the  beholders,  while  the  ships  quivered  from  truck 
to  keel.  The  sublime  spectacle  reached  its  climax. 
The  column  of  flame  vibrated  a  moment,  and  in  a 
twinkling  had  vanished,  and  with  the  exception  of  a 
few  shells  that  flashed  across  the  sky,  left  the  awe- 
stricken  beholders  in  a  darkness  of  twofold  intensity. 
The  deafening  roar  of  the  batteries  and  the  noise  of  the 
explosion  had  suddenly  ceased,  and  in  the  profound 
hush  that  followed  each  man  stood  mute  with  horror. 
Soon  the  rattling  of  shot,  shell  and  the  fragments  of 
the  wreck  could  be  heard  falling  on  the  rocks  in  the 
harbor  or  splashing  the  water  near  by,  while  far  off  in 
the  distance  a  few  cries  arose  from  the  city,  but  this 
soon  ceased,  leaving  a  deep  and  unbroken  silence. 

If  the  Americans  in  the  offing  had  been  anxious 
before  the  explosion,  they  were  doubly  so  now.  Every 
eye  was  strained  with  renewed  effort,  every  ear  eagerly 
caught  at  the  faintest  sound,  and  with  increasing  fre 
quency  came  the  question,  "  Have  you  heard  anything 
yet  ? "  During  all  this  dark  night  the  vessels  hovered 
around  the  northern  entrance  in  the  vain  hope  of  pick 
ing  up  some  of  the  survivors.  The  heavier  frigates 
tacked  back  and  forth  from  one  entrance  to  the  other, 
occasionally  firing  a  gun  or  a  rocket  for  the  guidance 
of  any  possible  fugitive,  but  in  the  depressing  silence 
the  cannon  sounded  like  minute  guns  for  the  dead ; 
and  well  might  they  have  been,  for  the  sound  fell  on 
ears  that  heard  not,  while  eyes  that  should  have  seen 
the  rockets  were  sightless  forever. 

At  dawn  the  Americans  closely  scanned  the  harbor 
for  traces  of  the  Intrepid.  On  the  rocks  which  formed 
the  northern  entrance  of  the  harbor,  through  which 
the  ketch  passed,  was  seen  the  wreck  of  a  mast,  and 


292  THE  BOMBARDMENT  OF  TRIPOLI.  1804. 

scattered  around  on  the  other  side  were  fragments 
of  vessels.  It  was  soon  discovered  that  one  of  the 
enemy's  largest  gunboats  was  missing,  while  two  others 
badly  shattered  were  being  hauled  up  on  shore  for 
repairs.  As  the  three  gunboats  that  had  been  sta 
tioned  at  this  entrance  of  the  harbor  crowded  with  sol 
diers  had  disappeared,  it  was  -thought  that  one  of  them 
had  been  sunk  and  the  other  two  were  so  injured  as 
to  require  running  ashore  to  prevent  sinking.  It  was 
afterward  known  that  the  ketch  grounded  on  the  north 
side  of  the  rocks,1  and,  as  she  was  attacked  by  the 
three  gunboats  on  guard  there,  it  is  believed  that 
Somers,  in  keeping  with  his  avowed  determination  not 
to  be  taken  alive  by  the  enemy,  and  to  prevent  this 
valuable  supply  of  ammunition  from  falling  into  their 
hands,  took  a  ship's  lantern  and,  descending  directly 
into  the  magazine  room,  deliberately  fired  the  entire 
mass,  blowing  up  his  own  men  and  the  Tripolitans 
who  were  swarming  over  the  ketch. 

Two  bodies  mangled  beyond  possibility  of  recog 
nition  were  found  in  the  bottom  of  the  ketch,  and  on 
the  6th  of  September  four  more  were  discovered  float- 
in  the  harbor  or  on  the  rocks.  Six  more  bodies  had 
been  found  the  day  after  the  explosion,  and  some  time 
afterward  the  Constitutions  gig,  which  had  been  sent 
in  with  the  ketch,  was  found  on  the  beach  where  it 
had  drifted,  with  another  *body  in  it.  These  bodies 
were  collected  and  laid  on  the  beach,  and  on  the  8th 
of  September  Captain  Bainbridge  and  some  of  the 
American  officers  in  Tripoli  were  permitted  to  view 
them.  He  describes  them  as  being  in  a  "  most  mangled 
and  burned  condition,"  and  "from  the  whole  of  them 
being  so  disfigured  it  was  impossible  to  recognize  any 
feature  known  to  us,  or  even  to  distinguish  an  officer 
from  a  seaman."  One  of  the  bodies  had  the  remains  of 
nankeen  trousers  on  it,  while  the  hair  of  the  head  was 

1  See  A  in  diagram  of  Tripoli  harbor,  p.  257. 


1804.  HEROIC  OFFICERS.  293 

of  deep  black,  and  as  Somers  was  the  only  one  of  the 
party  that  answered  to  this  description  it  was  probable 
that  these  were  his  remains.  A  number  of  the  bodies 
were  riddled  with  grapeshot,  but  as  the  two  found  in 
the  bottom  of  the  ketch  were  uninjured  in  this  respect 
it  was  thought  that  they  were  below  at  the  time  the 
attack  was  made  and  fired  the  magazine.  The  remains 
were  buried  on  the  beach,  outside  the  town,  near  the 
walls,  while  small  stones  marked  their  graves ;  but 
these  modest  tombstones  were  removed  by  the  Turks, 
who  objected  to  Christian  monuments  in  their  land. 

Thus  perished  Richard  Somers,  Henry  Wadsworth, 
and  Joseph  Israel,  three  as  courageous  young  officers 
as  ever  drew  a  sword.  Their  names  have  passed  into 
the  annals  of  the  navy  as  synonyms  of  all  that  is 
heroic.  Congress  passed  a  resolution  of  sympathy  for 
the  relatives  of  Richard  Somers,  Henry  Wadsworth, 
James  Decatur,  James  R.  Caldwell,  Joseph  Israel  and 
John  Sword  Dorsey,  all  of  whom  were  killed  before 
Tripoli. 


CHAPTER  VIII. 

CONCLUSION    OF   THE   WAE   WITH   TRIPOLI. 

THE  experiences  of  the  American  seamen  during 
the  nineteen  months  of  their  captivity  in  Tripoli  were 
not  pleasant.  The  Tripolitans  at  first  were  disposed  to 
treat  the  prisoners  with  leniency,  but  the  American 
tars  held  their  captors  in  such  contempt,  and  so  fre 
quently  came  to  blows  with  them,  that  the  Turkish 
guards  soon  looked  upon  the  sailors  from  the  New 
World  as  incorrigible  scamps,  on  whom  kindness  was 
thrown  away.  The  carpenters,  riggers  and  sailmakers 
were  employed  in  repairing  the  Bashaw's  gunboats, 
while  the  seamen  were  compelled  to  work  on  the  forti 
fications  with  other  slaves,  and  having  nothing  to  eat 
but  black  bread  and  olive  oil  they  soon  became  emaci 
ated  and  feeble.  ' '  The  sailors  were  put  to  work  carry 
ing  stones  on  their  heads  and  shoulders  to  repair  the 
fortifications ;  and  at  this  laborious  employment  they 
were  kept  from  morning  till  night,  exposed  to  the 
burning  sun  and  supplied  with  very  insufficient  rations. 
Instead  of  beef,  tough  camel's  meat  was  served  out  to 
them,  and  the  bread  was  a  miserable  article,  composed 
of  beans  instead  of  wheat."1  At  the  solicitation  of 
Captain  Bainbridge,  a  supply  of  salt  provisions  and 
clothing  was  sent  to  them  from  the  American  squad 
ron.  By  doing  overtime  work  the  men  made  a  little 
money  and  were  permitted  to  walk  about  the  streets, 
two  or  three  at  a  time.  But  with  the  money  thus  ac 
quired  Jack  was  tempted  to  drown  his  sorrows  in  liq- 
. — ih _- 

1  Memoirs  of  Commodore  David  Porter,  p.  G2. 

(894) 


1804.  ATTEMPTS  TO  ESCAPE  FROM  CAPTIVITY.  295 

uor,  which  could  only  be  obtained  from  the  Jew  shops  ; 
and  as  there  is  no  sight  so  offensive  to  the  Mussulmans 
as  a  drunken  man,  they  gave  expression  to  their  disgust 
by  spitting  in'  his  face.  As  the  American  sailor  was  fre 
quently  intoxicated,  he  was  subjected  to  this  indignity 
on  more  than  one  occasion,  but  in  every  instance  he 
gave  the  offender  a  sound  thrashing.  The  disturbance 
being  reported  to  the  slave  guards,  Jack  would  be  sen 
tenced  to  receive  the  bastinado.  In  receiving  this  pun 
ishment  he  was  favored  by  the  slave  driver,  who,  in 
stead  of  delivering  the  blows  on  the  bare  feet,  inter 
posed  straw  pads,  so  that  practically  Jack  got  off  free  ; 
but  in  order  that  the  deception  might  not  be  discov 
ered,  Jack  was  instructed  to  yell  right  lustily,  so  that 
the  chief  slave  driver,  whose  high  office  and  dignity 
would  not  permit  him  to  witness  the  punishment  of  a 
common  sailor,  but  who  never  failed  to  listen  outside, 
might  be  satisfied  that  the  punishment  was  properly 
administered. 

Several  attempts  were  made  by  the  American  officers 
to  escape  from  their  captivity.  As  the  castle  was  near 
the  harbor,  it  was  thought  possible  to  reach  the  Ameri 
can  squadron  if  boats  could  be  procured,  and  the  offi 
cers  began  to  dig  a  tunnel  under  the  castle,  but  they 
had  not  proceeded  far  when  they  discovered  that  the 
distance — seventy  or  eighty  feet — would  be  too  great, 
and  would  lead  under  the  water  that  washed  the  outer 
walls  of  the  castle.  They  also  discovered  that  senti 
nels  were  stationed  along  the  beach  for  several  miles 
on  both  sides  of  the  city,  so  that  it  would  have  been 
impossible  for  boats  from  the  squadron  to  approach 
unobserved. 

On  one  of  the  dreary  nights  of  their  imprisonment 
in  the  castle  Captain  Bainbridge  and  Lieutenant  Jacob 
Jones  opened  a  passage  in  the  wall  that  led  into  a  de 
serted  apartment,  where  they  discovered  that  the  upper 
floor  had  been  broken  through.  With  great  difficulty 
one  of  the  officers  climbed  into  the  room  above,  in 


296         CONCLUSION   OF  THE   WAR  WITH  TRIPOLI.          1804. 

which  there  was  an  iron-grated  window  overlooking  the 
ramparts  of  the  castle.  In  the  course  of  several  days 
the  iron  bars  of  this  window  were  cut  through,  and 
selecting  a  dark,  stormy  night,  the  prisoners  made  a 
rope  of  their  shirts  and  trousers,  passed  through  the 
window,  lowered  themselves  to  the  ramparts,  and  crawl 
ing  along  in  the  shadow  of  the  walls  reached  a  point 
where  they  intended  to  lower  themselves  into  the  sea 
and  swim  to  a  small  armed  vessel  which  had  come  into 
the  port  several  days  before.  Just  as  they  were  ap 
proaching  the  cannon  to  which  it  was  intended  to  tie 
one  end  of  the  rope,  the  relief  guard  approached,  and 
the  adventurers  were  compelled  to  retreat,  which  they 
did  without  detection.  It  was  fortunate  that  the  proj 
ect  was  thus  interrupted,  for  they  afterward  discov 
ered  that  the  vessel  to  which  they  intended  to  swim 
had  sailed  early  in  the  evening. 

A  few  months  after  this  failure  the  American 
officers  determined  to  make  an  attempt  to  escape  to  a 
British  frigate  that  was  expected  in  a  few  days.  In 
order  to  do  this  they  began,  about  the  last  of  June, 
1804,  to  dig  a  tunnel  under  the  castle,  but  while  exca 
vating  under  the  ramparts  they  reached  a  vault  which 
became  so  weakened  that  it  caved  in  under  the  weight 
of  a  42-pound  cannon  which  the  Turkish  guards  were 
moving  at  the  time.  Even  this  did  not  seem  to  arouse 
the  suspicions  of  their  captors.  It  was  as  well,  how 
ever,  that  the  tunnel  was  not  completed,  for  the  British 
frigate,  instead  of  coming  into  the  harbor,  hove  to  in 
the  offing  only  long  enough  for  the  English  consul  to 
come  aboard. 

The  tropical  heat  of  the  summer  rendered  the  air 
in  the  prison  foul  and  unendurable,  and  as  no  atten 
tion  was  paid  to  the  frequent  requests  for  better  ven 
tilation,  Lieutenant  David  Porter  succeeded  in  remov 
ing  the  stone  and  mortar  from  a  window  which  had 
been  filled  in.  When  the  chief  slave  driver  saw  the 
opening  he  rushed  into  the  apartment,  seized  Lieu  ten- 


1804-1805.     THE  BASHAW   INCREASES  HIS  GUARDS.  297 

ant  Porter,  and  had  Mm  removed  to  a  filthy  room  in  a 
distant  part  of  the  castle. 

The  American  seamen  also  matured  several  plans 
for  escape,  one  of  which  they  managed  to  communi 
cate  to  Captain  Bainbridge,  and  it  met  his  approval. 
They  proposed  to  await  a  favorable  moment  and  then 
make  a  rush  in  a  body  to  the  castle,  overpower  the 
guards,  liberate  their  officers,  and  then  make  an  attack 
on  the  palace,  and  having  secured  the  Bashaw  and  his 
family,  they  were  to  hold  them  as  hostages  for  their 
safe  conduct  to  Captain  Treble's  squadron.  But  after 
his  experience  with  American  daring  in  the  loss  of  the 
Philadelphia  and  the  explosion  of  the  ketch  Intrepid, 
the  Bashaw  had  become  exceedingly  nervous  about  his 
three  hundred  American  prisoners.  The  guards  at  all 
places  were  doubled,  while  the  carpenters,  boatswains, 
sailmakers  and  master's  mates  were  separated  from  the 
seamen  and  placed  in  a  secure  apartment  in  the  castle. 

On  the  5th  of  September,  1804,  the  weather  becom 
ing  unusually  threatening,  the  guns,  mortars  and 
shells  were  taken  out  of  the  smaller  vessels,  as  it  was 
feared  that  they  would  be  swamped,  and  on  the  7th  the 
John  Adams,  the  Siren,  the  Nautilus,  the  Enter 
prise  and  the  Scourge  took  the  gunboats  and  bom 
bards  in  tow  and  sailed  for  Syracuse,  leaving  the  Con 
stitution,  the  Argus  and  the  Vixen  to  blockade  the 
port  of  Tripoli.  On  the  10th  of  September  Captain 
Samuel  Barron,  in  the  44-gun  frigate  President,  Mas 
ter-Commandant  George  Cox,  with  the  36-gun  frigate 
Constellation,  Captain  Hugh  George  Campbell  (Mid 
shipman  Oliver  Hazard  Perry  being  in  the  latter),  ar 
rived  on  the  scene  of  action  to  assume  command.  Two 
days  later  two  coasters  laden  with  sixteen  thousand 
bushels  of  wheat  were  intercepted  while  attempting 
to  run  into  the  port.  Captain  Preble  now  returned  to 
the  United  States  in. the  John  Adams,  where  he  ar 
rived  on  the  26th  of  February,  1805,  and  Congress 
voted  him  a  gold  medal  for  his  brilliant  services. 

22 


298          CONCLUSION  OF  THE  WAR  WITH  TRIPOLI.         1805. 

In  the  meantime  the  Government  continued  to  in 
crease  the  naval  force  in  the  Mediterranean,  and  also 
sent  over  two  bombards,  the  Vengeance  and  the  Spit 
fire,  besides  ten  gunboats,  which  had  been  constructed 
especially  for  service  in  the  Mediterranean.  The  navi 
gation  of  these  small  craft  across  the  stormy  Atlantic 
was  a  feat  requiring  no  little  daring  and  skill.  The 
Vengeance  was  taken  across  by  Lieutenant  Lewis  and 
the  Spitfire  by  Lieutenant  McNiell.  The  gunboats  were 
brought  over  by  Lieutenants  James  Lawrence,  Max 
well  and  Elbert,  and  by  Midshipmen  Izard,  J.  D.  Hen 
ley,  Harrison,  Harriden  and  Carter.  Gunboat  No.  7, 
commanded  by  Lieutenant  Peter  Ogelvie,  sailed  from 
New  York  May  14, 1805,  but  springing  her  mast  returned 
for  repairs.  She  sailed  again  on  the  20th  of  June,  but 
since  that  time  she  has  not  been  heard  from.  The  fate 
of  this  gunboat  only  too  plainly  showed  what  great  risk 
the  men  who  commanded  and  manned  the  other  vessels 
of  its  class  took  when  they  sailed  across  the  Atlantic 
in  them.  Eight  of  these  boats,  although  sailing  sepa 
rately  from  the  United  States,  arrived  at  Gibraltar 
within  forty-eight  hours  of  one  another.  Gunboat  No. 
6,  Lieutenant  James  Lawrence  (afterward  the  hero  of 
the  Hornet-Peacock  fight),  when  near  the  Azores,  fell 
in  with  the  British  frigate  Lapwing,  Captain  Upton, 
which  had  run  down  on  her  supposing  she  was  a  raft 
with  a  number  of  shipwrecked  men  aboard.  When  off 
Cadiz,  June  12th,  the  same  gunboat  was  boarded  by  a 
boat  from  Admiral  Collingwood's  fleet  and  three  of  her 
men  were  impressed. 

At  the  time  Captain  Samuel  Barron  arrived  in  the 
Mediterranean  the  American  naval  force  was  the  strong 
est  that  had  ever  been  collected  under  the  flag  of  the 
United  States.  It  consisted  of  the  44-gun  frigate  Presi 
dent  (flagship),  Master-Commandant  Cox ;  the  44-gun 
frigate  Constitution,  Captain  Stephen  Decatur ;  the  36- 
gun  frigate  Congress,  Captain  John  Rodgers ;  the  36- 
gun  frigate  Constellation,  Captain  Hugh  George  Camp- 


1804-1805.        THE  AMERICAN  ARMY  IN  AFRICA.  299 

bell ;  the  32-gun  frigate  Essex,  Captain  James  Barren  ; 
the  16-gun  brig  Siren,  Master-Commandant  Charles 
Stewart ;  the  16-gun  brig  Argus,  Master-Commandant 
Isaac  Hull ;  the  12-gun  schooner  Vixen,  Master- Com 
mandant  John  Smith  ;  the  12-gun  schooner  Nautilus, 
Master-Commandant  John  Herbert  Dent  *  the  12-gun 
schooner  Enterprise,  Master-Commandant  Robinson; 
the  10-gun  sloop  Hornet,  Lieutenant  Samuel  Evans ; 
besides  the  bombards  and  gunboats.  The  Hornet  was 
a  vessel  purchased  at  Malta  and  altered  for  the  service. 
While  the  Americans  were  thus  preparing  to  con 
tinue  the  war  with  greater  vigor  than  ever,  trouble  be 
gan  in  the  enemy's  camp.  It  is  to  be  remembered  that 
Captain  Bainbridge  was  aware  of  the  strong  feeling 
among  the  Tripolitans  against  Jussuf  Karamauli,  the 
reigning  Bashaw  of  Tripoli,  who  had  usurped  the 
throne  of  his  brother  Hamet  and  held  his  children  as 
hostages,  and  it  was  not  long  before  advantage  was 
taken  of  this  circumstance.  William  Eaton,  the 
American  consul  at  Tunis,  persuaded  the  ex-Bashaw 
to  raise  an  army  and  in  co-operation  with  the  Ameri 
can  squadron  to  attack  Tripoli.  Mr.  Eaton,  who  had 
served  in  the  army  during  the  Revolution,  volunteered 
his  services  as  leader  of  the  land  forces.  On  the  26th 
of  November,  1804,  the  Argus,  Master-Commandant 
Isaac  Hull,  repaired  to  the  old  port  of  Alexandria, 
where  Hamet  had  assembled  the  army.  This  "  army  " 
proved  to  be  a  rabble  of  thirty  thousand  unarmed  and 
destitute  adventurers,  who  swarmed  to  a  standard  that 
gave  promise  of  pillage  and  plunder.  Picking  out 
twelve  hundred  men,  most  of  them  Christians,  Mr. 
Eaton,  early  in  the  spring  of  1805,  marched  across  the 
desert  of  Barca  for  Derne,  the  capital  of  the  richest 
province  in  Tripoli.  A  few  miles  from  this  place  he 
found  the  Argus,  the  Nautilus  and  the  Hornet.  A 
field  piece  and  a  body  of  marines  under  First-Lieu 
tenant  Presley  !N".  O'Bannon  and  Midshipman  George 
Mann  were  landed,  together  with  arms,  ammunition 


300          CONCLUSION  OF  THE  WAR  WITH  TRIPOLI.         1805. 

and  provisions.  The  dispositions  for  an  attack  were 
soon  made,  and  on  the  27th  of  April  they  advanced  to 
the  assault.  The  vessels  ran  close  to  the  batteries, 
and  after  an  hour  of  spirited  cannonading,  silenced 
them.  In  two  hours  the  place  was  occupied  and  the 
enemy  subdued,  and  for  the  first  time  in  its  history 
the  flag  of  the  United  States  floated  over  a  fortress  of 
the  Old  World.  This  was  the  fif teen-star- and-fif teen- 
stripe  flag  which  had  been  in  use  since  1795.  Fourteen 
of  the  assailants  were  killed  or  wounded,  among  the 
latter  being  Mr.  Eaton,  who  was  shot  through  his  waist. 

Hamet  Karamauli  now  asked  for  another  supply  of 
arms  and  ammunition  in  order  to  follow  up  his  advan 
tage  by  an  immediate  attack  on  Tripoli,  but  this  Captain 
Samuel  Barron  refused,  on  the  ground  that  the  deposed 
Bashaw  was  now  in  possession  of  half  the  regency,  and 
if  he  had  the  influence  over  the  people  which  he  professed 
to  have  he  could  easily  conquer  the  remaining  half  with 
out  further  augmentation  of  his  forces.  On  the  22d  of 
May,  Captain  Barron,  on  account  of  his  poor  health, 
transferred  the  command  of  the  American  squadron  to 
Captain  John  Rodgers.  In  the  meantime  Jussuf  Kara 
mauli,  finding  that  his  situation  was  growing  critical, 
and  that  the  Americans  were  increasing  rather  than 
diminishing  in  strength,  came  to  terms.  On  the  3d  of 
June  he  signed  a  treaty  by  which  he  relinquished  all 
claims  to  tribute  in  the  future,  and  upon  the  exchange 
of  the  Tripolitan  prisoners  the  remaining  American 
captives  were  to  be  ransomed  for  sixty  thousand  dol 
lars.  These  terms  were  undoubtedly  the  best  that  could 
be  expected  under  the  circumstances.  The  exiled 
Bashaw  did  not  develop  the  popularity  and  strength 
which  were  promised,  and  he  remained  a  pensioner  of 
the  United  States  for  two  years  afterward,  receiving 
two  hundred  dollars  a  month. 

While  the  Americans  were  engaged  in  the  bom 
bardment  of  Tripoli  the  Bey  of  Tunis  took  the  oppor 
tunity  to  manifest  his  hostility  toward  the  United 


1805.     DICTATING  PEACE  AT  THE  CANNON'S  MOUTH.      301 

States.  This  ruler,  like  the  other  potentates  of  Bar- 
bary,  undoubtedly  was  encouraged  in  these  unfriendly 
acts  by  agents  of  the  British  Government,1  for  the 
American  commercial  marine  had  by  this  time  grown 
to  such  proportions  as  to  prove  a  dangerous  rival  to 
Great  Britain.  These  agents  had  given  the  Bey  such 
assurances  of  the  insignificance  of  the  United  States 
that  he  had  come  to  regard  the  Americans  as  being 
only  too  anxious  to  maintain  peace  with  the  " terrible" 
regencies  of  Barbary,  and  he  supposed  a  little  expres 
sion  of  his  wrath  at  a  time  when  this  "  unimportant 
nation"  of  the  New  World  was  struggling  with  his 
neighbor  would  conduce  to  his  good.  Accordingly  he 
told  Mr.  Davis,  the  American  consul  at  Tunis,  that  un 
less  the  Tunisian  corsair  that  had  been  captured,  while 
attempting  to  run  the  blockade,  by  the  squadron  before 
Tripoli  was  returned,  he  would  declare  war. 

But  the  Bey  chose  a  most  unfortunate  moment  for 
his  bravado.  The  American  squadron  had  grown  to 
the  size  of  a  respectable  fleet,  while  the  officers  had 
become  thoroughly  organized  and  trained ;  and,  flushed 
with  their  victories  off  Tripoli,  nothing  would  have 
suited  them  better  than  ua  brush"  with  Tunis.  On 
the  1st  of  August  Captain  John  Rodgers  appeared  off 
Tunis  with  thirteen  vessels  of  war,  and,  promptly 
sending  for  the  American  consul,  he  informed  the  Bey 
in  the  plainest  possible  manner  that  he  would  give 
him  just  thirty-six  hours  in  which  to  answer  to  the 
terms  of  peace  proposed  by  Captain  Rodgers.  The 
Bey  at  first  seemed  dazed  by  this  unexpected  bearing 
of  the  unew  nation  in  the  West,"  but  Captain  Rodg 
ers  quickly  brought  him  to  a  realization  of  the  situ 
ation,  and  literally  dictated  the  terms  of  peace  under 
the  muzzles  of  his  cannon.  In  September  a  Tunisian 
minister  embarked  in  the  Congress,  Captain  Stephen 
Decatur,  and  in  due  time  was  landed  at  Washington. 

1  See  p.  218. 


302          CONCLUSION  OF  THE  WAR  WITH  TRIPOLI.         1805. 

The  result  of  the  visit  of  this  squadron  to  Tunis 
astonished  the  representatives  of  the  different  Euro 
pean  powers  residing  there  ;  the  general  remark  was, 
4 '  No  other  nation  has  ever  negotiated  with  the  present 
Bey  on  such  honorable  terms." 

A  few  hours  after  leaving  Algeciras  on  her  home 
ward  passage,  the  President  was  fired  on  by  Spanish 
gunboats,  and  some  of  their  shot  passed  over  the  frig 
ate.  As  the  gunboats  were  anchored  in  the  harbor  so 
that  it  was  impossible  for  the  President  to  get  at  them, 
and  as  the  Spaniards  were  probably  mistaken  as  to  the 
nationality  of  the  frigate,  the  only  notice  taken  of  the 
incident  was  the  display  of  the  Spanish  flag  under  the 
President's  colors. 

Thus  the  young  republic,  by  means  of  its  navy, 
threw  off  the  ignoble  yoke  of  the  piratical  States  of 
Barbary,  and  frustrated  the  intrigues  of  Great  Britain 
against  the  development  of  our  commerce  in  the  Med 
iterranean  and  in  the  Atlantic.  The  other  powers  of 
Europe  some  years  later  compelled  these  regencies  to 
give  up  all  claim  of  tribute  on  Christendom.  The  four 
years  of  active  service  in  the  Mediterranean  proved  of 
great  benefit  to  the  infant  navy  of  the  United  States. 
The  officers  and  men  acquired  that  practical  training 
and  discipline  which  active  service  alone  can  give.  It 
rendered  them  self-reliant,  and  developed  their  apti 
tude  for  the  sea  to  an  astonishing  degree,  as  will  be 
seen  in  succeeding  chapters. 


PART  THIRD. 
THE  WAR  OF   1812, 


CHAPTER  I. 

THE   OUTBREAK. 

ABOUT  eighteen  months  after  the  signing  of  the 
treaties  with  the  Bashaw  of  Tripoli  and  the  Bey  of 
Tunis,  an  incident  occurred  off  the  coast  of  Virginia 
which  again  brought  the  navy  into  prominence.  The 
36 -gun  frigate  Chesapeake,  Master  -  Commandant 
Charles  Gordon,  had  been  put  into  commission  for  the 
purpose  of  relieving  the  Constitution,  then  stationed 
in  the  Mediterranean.  In  the  spring  of  1807,  while  the 
Chesapeake  was  completing  her  outfit  at  the  navy  yard 
in  Washington,  the  English  minister  informed  the 
Government  that  three  sailors  had  deserted  from  the 
British  frigate  Melampus  and  were  enrolled  in  the 
Chesapeake* s  crew.  In  keeping  with  the  custom  ex 
isting  between  friendly  powers,  Master-Commandant 
Gordon  ordered  an  investigation.  One  of  the  deserters 
declared  that  he  was  a  native  of  the  Eastern  Shore, 
and  as  Mr.  Gordon  himself  had  lived  there  he  was 
satisfied  with  the  man's  statement.  The  second  de 
serter  was  a  negro,  and  no  question  was  entertained  on 
the  part  of  the  Chesapeake 's  officers  as  to  his  right  to 
American  protection.  Concerning  the  third  there 
seems  to  have  been  no  conclusive  evidence  on  either 
side,  but  the  man  stoutly  maintained  that  he  was  an 
American  citizen.  All  the  deserters  reiterated  that 
they  had  been  forced  into  the  British  service ;  and  as 
the  English  officers  had  no  proof  to  the  contrary,  and 
as  two  out  of  the  three  were  unquestionably  entitled  to 
American  protection,  the  British  minister  was  in 
formed  that  none  of  them  would  be  given  up.  This 

(305) 


306  THE  OUTBREAK.  1807. 

answer  was  though. t  to  be  satisfactory,  as  nothing  fur 
ther  was  said  on  the  subject. 

On  the  22d  of  June,  1807,  the  Chesapeake  was 
ready  for  sea.  Getting  under  way  at  eight  o'clock  in 
the  morning,  she  dropped  down  to  Hampton  Roads 
and  made  sail  for  the  Mediterranean,  bearing  the 
broad  pennant  of  Captain  James  Barron.  At  the  mo 
ment  the  Chesapeake  was  seen  to  be  weighing  anchor, 
the  British  50-gun  ship  Leopard,  Captain  Humphreys, 
which  had  been  lying  at  Lynnhaven  for  some  days, 
also  got  under  way  and  preceded  the  American  frigate 
to  sea  by  several  miles.  By  noon  the  ships  were  stretch 
ing  out  to  clear  the  land,  and  at  three  o'clock  they 
were  forty-five  miles  from  port.  The  Chesapeake  then 
tacked  to  the  northeast,  when  the  Leopard — which 
had  been  allowing  the  Chesapeake  to  come  up  with 
her — being  to  windward,  bore  up  and  ran  close  abeam 
of  the  American.  Captain  Humphreys  then  hailed, 
saying  he  had  dispatches  which  he  desired  to  have 
taken  to  Europe,  and  in  a  few  minutes  a  boat  was  low 
ered  and  sent  aboard  the  Chesapeake.  So  far  nothing 
unusual  had  occurred,  as  it  was  customary  for  vessels 
of  war  to  extend  this  courtesy  to  each  other.  On  gain 
ing  the  Chesapeake' s  deck  the  British  lieutenant  was 
conducted  to  the  cabin,  where  he  handed  Captain  James 
Barron  an  order,  signed  by  Vice- Admiral  Berkeley, 
dated  June  1,  1807,  directing  all  commanders  in  his 
(Berkeley's)  squadron  to  board  the  Chesapeake  wher 
ever  found  on  the  high  seas,  and  to  "require  to  search 
for  deserters  "  and  "  to  proceed  to  search  for  the  same." 
In  the  same  order  Vice- Admiral  Berkeley  extended  a 
similar  privilege  to  American  officers  when  searching 
for  deserters.  In  this  arrogant  assumption  of  author 
ity  Vice-Admiral  Berkeley,  without  the  sanction  of  his 
Government,  not  only  presumed  to  institute  a  radical 
innovation  in  that  most  delicate  of  all  legal  subjects, 
international  law,  but  proceeded  in  an  arbitrary  way 
to  carry  out  his  views  in  this  case  without  so  much  as 


1807.  THE  CHESAPEAKE-LEOPARD  AFFAIR.  307 

informing  the  American  authorities  of  his  dissatisfac 
tion. 

The  Chesapeake  at  this  moment  was  in  great  disor 
der.  Her  men  were  still  engaged  in  stowing  away 
cables,  while  the  decks  were  encumbered  with  cabin 
furniture,  personal  effects,  provisions,  chicken  coops 
etc. — certainly  a  most  disgraceful  condition  for  a  man- 
of-war  on  the  high  seas.  Captain  Barron  sent  a  note 
to  the  commander  of  the  Leopard,  in  which  he  re 
fused  to  permit  the  search  ;  and  when  the  British  lieu 
tenant  returned  with  this  note,  Captain  Barron  gave 
orders  to  clear  for  action.  The  word  was  easily  given, 
but  it  was  soon  found  impossible  to  be  carried  out,  for 
even  the  rammers,  wads,  matches,  gunlocks  and  pow 
der  horns  could  not  be  produced.  In  the  meantime 
Captain  Barron  stood  at  the  gangway,  watching  the 
British  boat  pulling  back  to  the  Leopard.  In  five 
minutes  the  note  was  read,  when  Captain  Humphreys 
hailed.  Captain  Barron  replied  that  he  did  not  under 
stand,  upon  which  a  shot  flew  just  ahead  of  the  Chesa 
peake*  s  bow.  As  the  American  frigate  did  not  obey 
this  summons  to  heave  to,  a  broadside  was  poured  into 
her,  which  wounded  several  men,  including  the  cap 
tain. 

For  fifteen  minutes  the  Leopard,  at  short  range 
and  in  smooth  water,  fired  broadside  after  broadside 
into  the  unresisting  Chesapeake,  for  the  latter,  owing 
to  the  confusion  of  her  stores  and  armament,  could 
not  discharge  a  single  gun.  Captain  Barron  begged 
that  at  least  one  gun  might  be  fired  in  defense  before 
he  surrendered,  and  just  as  the  flag  was  coming  down 
Lieutenant  William  Henry  Allen,  who  commanded  the 
second  division,  seized  a  live  coal  from  the  galley  fire 
with  his  fingers  and  discharged  a  gun.  The  shot 
hulled  the  Leopard,  but  did  no  further  damage.  The 
cannonading  then  ceased,  and  a  boat  put  out  to  board 
the  Chesapeake.  Out  of  her  crew  of  three  hundred 
and  seventy-five  she  had  lost  three  killed  and  eight- 


308  THE  OUTBREAK.  1807-1811. 

een  wounded.  Twenty-one  shot  had  hulled  her,  all 
the  masts  were  wounded,  and  the  sails  were  riddled 
with  grape  and  canister.  Several  British  officers  then 
boarded  her,  and,  mustering  the  crew,  picked  out  the 
three  men  who  had  left  the  Melampus — William  Ware, 
Daniel  Martin  (colored)  and  John  Strachan — besides 
Jenkin  Ratford,  or  John  Wilson,  as  he  is  called  in 
some  accounts,  who  had  left  the  English  cruiser  Hali 
fax,  and  carried  them  aboard  the  Leopard,  all  the 
men  maintaining  to  the  last  that  they  were  American 
citizens.  Captain  Barron  informed  the  British  com 
mander  that  he  considered  the  Chesapeake  a  prize  of 
the  Leopard  ;  but  Captain  Humphreys  refused  to  look 
at  it  in  that  light,  and,  after  securing  his  four  prison 
ers,  sailed  away.  Captain  Barron  then  put  back  to 
Hampton  Roads. 

The  news  of  this  outrage  caused  great  excitement 
throughout  the  United  States.  It  had  been  the  prac 
tice  of  British  cruisers  to  hover  round  American  ports 
for  the  purpose  of  boarding  vessels  and  searching  for 
alleged  English  seamen.  Not  only  were  coasting  ves 
sels  thus  made  liable  to  a  reduction  in  their  crews,  but 
American  ships  on  the  open  sea,  wherever  found, 
were  brought  to,  their  crews,  never  too  numerous,  were 
inspected,  and  such  as  in  the  estimation  of  the  British 
officer  were  English  deserters  were  forcibly  carried  off, 
thus  leaving  the  merchant  ship  in  midocean  bereft  of 
her  best  seamen  and  with  her  crew  dangerously  weak 
ened.  By  1812  over  six  thousand  cases  of  impressed 
American  seamen  were  registered  in  Washington  while 
even  Lord  Castlereagh,  in  a  speech  before  Parliament, 
February  18,  1811,  admitted  that  "  out  of  one  hundred 
and  forty-five  thousand  seamen  employed  in  the  Brit 
ish  service  in  January,  1811,  the  whole  number  claim 
ing  to  be  American  subjects  amounted  to  no  more  than 
three  thousand  three  hundred."1 

1  See  Records  of  Parliament. 


1806.         OUTRAGES  ON  AMERICAN  MERCHANTMEN.  3Q9 

But  British  cruisers  did  not  stop  at  this.  Any 
American  vessel  laden  with  a  cargo  that  British  com 
manders  suspected  of  being  intended  for  the  enemies 
of  England  was  ordered  out  of  her  course  into  some 
port,  and  was  there  unloaded  and  searched.  This  fre 
quently  resulted  in  the  confiscation  of  American  car 
goes  for  the  benefit  of  the  British  exchequer,  and 
always  entailed  a  serious  loss  of  time  to  the  merchant. 
The  War  of  1812  adjusted  these  difficulties,  although 
not  by  treaty  stipulation,  but,  even  before  that,  many 
English  officers  denounced  the  practice  as  unjust.  In 
his  private  journal  Lord  Dundonald  says:  "  On  our 
arrival  at  Halifax  we  found  many  American  vessels 
which  had  been  detained,  laden  with  corn  [wheat]  and 
provisions.  These  had  been  seized  by  our  predecessors 
on  the  station,  the  act  by  no  means  tending  to  in 
crease  our  popularity  on  subsequent  visits  along  the 
United  States  coasts.  Another  practice  which  was 
pursued  here  always  appeared  to  me  a  questionable 
stretch  of  authority  toward  a  neutral  nation,  viz.,  the 
forcible  detention  of  English  seamen  whenever  found 
navigating  American  ships.  Of  this  the  Government 
of  the  United  States  justly  complained,  as  inflicting 
severe  losses  on  its  citizens,  whose  vessels  were  thus 
delayed  or  imperiled  for  want  of  hands." 

On  the  25th  of  April,  1806,  the  British  50-gun  ship 
Leander,  Captain  Whitby,  while  cruising  off  New 
York  harbor  for  the  purpose  of  intercepting  American 
merchant  ships  and  depleting  their  crews,  had  endeav 
ored  to  bring  to  a  small  coasting  vessel.  Her  master, 
knowing  that  this  meant  the  abduction  of  some  of  his 
men,  gave  no  heed  to  the  summons  and  attempted  to 
gain  the  harbor.  The  Leander  thereupon  fired  a  shot 
at  the  coaster,  which  killed  her  commander,  John 
Pierce,  but  the  Americans  kept  on  their  course  and 
reached  port.  On  the  17th  of  April,  1806,  a  memorial 
of  the  mayor,  aldermen  and  commonalty  of  the  city 
of  New  York,  signed  by  De  Witt  Clinton,  was  for- 


310  THE  OUTBREAK.  1798-1806. 

warded  to  the  President,  which,  said  that  "our  port  is 
blockaded,  our  vessels  intercepted,  our  seamen  im 
pressed,  our  commerce  interrupted  and  our  jurisdic- 
tional  rights  most  grossly  violated.  A  British  squad 
ron  is  now  before  our  harbor,  evincing  a  disposition  to 
renew  its  outrages  and  to  perpetrate  additional  enormi 
ties.  We  therefore  respectfully  request  that  a  naval 
force  may  be  immediately  stationed  at  this  port,  and 
that  three  or  more  American  frigates  may  without  de 
lay  be  sent  for  our  protection."  By  an  act  of  Congress, 
April,  1806,  the  list  of  captains  in  the  United  States 
navy  was  increased  to  fourteen,  masters-commandant  to 
eight,  lieutenants  to  seventy-two.  The  captains  under 
this  law  were  Samuel  Nicholson,  Alexander  Murray, 
Samuel  Barron,  John  Rodgers,  Edward  Preble,  James 
Barron,  William  Bainbridge,  Hugh  G.  Campbell,  Ste 
phen  Decatur,  Thomas  Tingey,  Charles  Stewart,  Isaac 
Hull,  John  Shaw  and  Isaac  Chauncey.  The  masters- 
commandant  were :  John  Smith,  George  Cox,  John 
Herbert  Dent,  Thomas  Robinson,  David  Porter,  John 
Cassin,  Samuel  Evans  and  Charles  Gordon. 

The  American  people  had  not  yet  forgotten  the  out 
rage  on  the  Baltimore  in  1798,  when  the  United  States 
and  England  were  attacking  a  common  enemy.  In 
proportion  as  these  abuses  were  persisted  in,  the  indig 
nation  of  the  people  grew  apace,  until  the  news  of  the 
attack  on  the  Chesapeake  wrought  the  nation  to  the 
highest  degree  of  exasperation.  The  prompt  action  of 
the  cabinet  at  Westminster,  disavowing  the  act  of  Vice- 
Admiral  Berkeley,  alone  prevented  an  immediate  decla 
ration  of  war.  Of  the  three  deserters  from  the  Melam,- 
pus,  seized  in  the  Chesapeake,  two  (the  third  having 
died)  were  returned  on  board  the  latter  with  indemnity 
money  and  much  formality.  The  fourth  man — Jenkin 
Ratford,  or  John  Wilson,  who  had  deserted  from  the 
Halifax — is  deserving  of  further  notice.  After  escap 
ing  from  the  British  ship,  he  met  her  commander,  Lord 
James  Townshend,  in  the  streets  of  Norfolk.  As  Lord 


1807.  THE  FATE  OF  THE  DESERTERS.  31 1 

James  was  endeavoring  to  induce  him  to  re-enter  their 
service,  Eatford's  anger  broke  all  bounds,  and,  heaping 
maledictions  on  the  British  officer,  he  left  him  to  the 
jeers  of  the  crowd.  On  the  seizure  of  the  four  men 
from  the  Chesapeake,  the  three  men  from  the  Melam- 
pus  were  sentenced  to  receive  each  five  hundred 
lashes,1  a  punishment  little  short  of  the  death  penalty. 
But  these  sentences  were  not  carried  into  execution,  as 
it  was  feared  that  the  seizures  might  be  disapproved 
by  the  home  Government.  But  the  puerile  spite  of  the 
noble  Lord  James,  smarting  under  the  insults  he  had 
received  from  a  common  sailor  in  the  streets  of  Nor 
folk,  could  not  be  appeased  until  he  saw  Jenkin  Rat- 
ford  hanged  at  the  fore  yardarm  of  the  Halifax,  be 
fore  instructions  from  England  could  arrive  ordering 
the  immediate  release  and  return  of  the  four  men. 

Captain  Barron  was  tried  by  court-martial  under 
four  charges  and  was  found  guilty  of  the  second : 
"  For  neglecting,  on  the  probability  of  an  engagement, 
to  clear  his  ship  for  action."  He  was  suspended  from 
the  service  without  pay  for  five  years.  Master-Com 
mandant  Charles  Gordon  and  Captain  Hall  of  the  ma 
rines,  as  acting  under  the  orders  of  a  superior  officer, 
escaped  with  a  private  reprimand,  while  the  gunner 
was  cashiered.  The  British  ministry  recalled  Vice- 
Admiral  Berkeley  from  the  command  of  this  station, 
but  soon  afterward  assigned  him  to  a  more  important 
one. 

These  flagrant  violations  of  neutral  rights  taught 
the  American  people  that  the  dignity  of  a  nation  can 
be  maintained  only  by  a  respectable  showing  of  force. 
When  they  were  thus  rudely  awakened  to  the  fact 
that  even  their  largest  frigates  were  incapable  of  re 
senting  insults,  they  became  apprehensive  of  their  de 
fenseless  ships,  representing  a  tonnage  of  two  millions, 
which  spread  their  sails  on  every  sea.  The  condition 

1  James'  History  of  the  British  Navy,  vol.  iv,  p.  255. 


312  THE  OUTBREAK.  1807-1811. 

of  the  Chesapeake  on  the  22d  of  June,  1807,  unpre 
pared  to  vindicate  its  honor  by  immediate  action,  illus 
trates  the  humiliation  and  danger  that  ever  await  a 
nation  when  its  coast  defenses  and  navy  are  permitted 
to  deteriorate  and  decay. 

On  the  18th  of  December,  1807,  Congress  author 
ized  the  construction  of  one  hundred  and  eighty-eight 
additional  gunboats,  making  a  total  of  two  hundred 
and  fifty-seven  vessels  of  this  class.  Four  days  after 
ward  a  law  was  passed  declaring  an  unlimited  embargo 
on  all  foreign  commerce,  and  all  the  war  vessels  were 
recalled  from  the  Mediterranean  and  stationed  on  the 
American  coasts.  In  January,  1809,  the  President  was 
empowered  to  put  into  commission  the  frigates  United 
States,  President  and  Essex,  and  the  corvette  John 
Adams,  and  to  increase  the  naval  complement  from 
fourteen  hundred  and  twenty-five  to  five  thousand  and 
twenty-five  men  and  boys.  Every  officer  from  this 
time  exercised  great  care  in  training  his  men  at  the 
guns  and  working  the  ship,  and  every  vessel  was  kept 
in  the  highest  state  of  preparation  for  immediate  ac 
tion. 

While  both  nations  were  assuming  a  belligerent 
attitude,  the  British  38-gun  frigate  Guerriere,  Captain 
Samuel  John  Pechell,  while  cruising  off  New  York  har 
bor,  May  1,  1811,  boarded  the  American  brig  Spitfire, 
from  Portland,  bound  for  New  York,  and  impressed 
a  man  named  John  Deguyo,  a  passenger  and  a  native 
citizen  of  the  United  States.  As  a  further  expression 
of  his  arrogance  Captain  Pechell  had  caused  the  name 
of  his  frigate  to  be  painted  in  large  letters  extending 
across  the  entire  width  of  his  foretopsail.  A  few  days 
after  the  perpetration  of  this  outrage  the  United  States 
44-gun  frigate  President  was  lying  at  anchor  off  Fort 
Severn,  Annapolis,  bearing  the  broad  pennant  of  Cap 
tain  John  Eodgers.  All  about  the  frigate  was  quiet 
and  listless  ;  no  sounds  of  warlike  preparation  could 
be  heard.  Her  commander  was  with  his  family  at 


1811.  THE  PRESIDENT  PUTS  TO  SEA.  313 

Havre  de  Grace,  forty-five  miles  distant ;  her  chaplain 
and  purser  were  in  Washington,  and  the  sailing-master 
was  at  Baltimore,  twenty -five  miles  away  ;  and  her 
senior  lieutenant,  Charles  Ludlow,  was  dining  aboard 
the  brig-of-war  Argus,  anchored  near  the  President. 
About  noon  the  attention  of  a  quartermaster  in  the 
President  was  attracted  by  a  gig,  five  miles  distant, 
pulling  down  Chesapeake  Bay,  from  the  direction  of 
Havre  de  Grace,  at  a  furious  rate.  Leveling  his  glass, 
he  soon  made  out  the  captain's  broad  pennant  flying 
at  her  bow.  The  people  in  the  frigate  hastened  to  pre 
pare  the  ship  for  the  reception  of  her  commander,  for 
Captain  Rodgers  was  one  of  the  strictest  disciplinarians 
in  the  service. 

Soon  the  gig  dashed  alongside  and  Captain  Rodg 
ers  stepped  aboard.  He  had  received  orders  from 
Washington  to  get  to  sea  as  soon  as  possible  and 
search  for  the  Guerriere.  In  an  instant  all  was  excite 
ment  and  bustle  aboard  the  flagship.  The  general  re 
call  cornet  was  run  up  at  the  main  and  a  gun  fired. 
Boats  hurriedly  put  off  to  and  from  the  shore,  and 
from  other  vessels  thereabout,  and  preparations  were 
made  to  sail  at  the  earliest  possible  moment.  At  dawn, 
May  12th,  all  was  ready.  Sharp,  quick  orders  were 
given  in  rapid  succession,  which  were  promptly  re 
peated  by  the  shrill  piping  of  the  boatswain's  silver 
whistle.  Men  rushed  about  in  seeming  confusion,  the 
capstan  was  manned,  the  music  struck  up,  and  the  an 
chor  was  wrenched  from  its  comfortable  bed  at  the 
bottom  of  the  river  and  soon  appeared  under  the  bow, 
muddy  and  ugly,  as  if  it  did  not  relish  this  sudden 
call  to  action.  The  topmen  scrambled  up  the  shrouds, 
swung  out  on  the  yards,  loosened  sail  after  sail  amid 
the.  merry  squeaking  of  the  blocks  and  the  creaking 
of  the  yards,  as  they  were  braced  around  ;  the  ship 
moved  forward  in  dignified  majesty,  the  waters  rip 
pled  away  on  both  sides  in  graceful  lines,  as  if  starting 
aback  in  mild  surprise  at  such  unseemly  haste,  and 

23 


314  THE  OUTBREAK.  1811. 

almost  before  tlie  men  realized  it,  the  noble  frigate  was 
standing  down  the  bay  under  a  cloud  of  white,  belly 
ing  sails,  the  tall  masts  making  stately  bows  by  way 
of  a  farewell  to  those  on  shore.  Stopping  on  her  way 
down  the  bay  for  some  of  her  people  who  had  been 
left  behind,  the  President  passed  the  Capes  of  Virginia 
and  out  into  the  broad  ocean.  Learning  that  the  com 
mander  of  the  Guerriere  had  painted  the  name  of  his 
ship  on  his  foresail,  Captain  Rodgers  caused  the  Presi 
dent's  name  to  be  placed  on  each  of  her  three  topsails, 
so  that  there  might  be  no  possible  chance  of  the  British 
frigate  mistaking  her  in  case  they  met. 

At  noon  on  the  16th  of  May,  when  about  forty  miles 
northeast  of  Cape  Henry,  a  strange  vessel  was  descried 
on  the  eastern  horizon,  which  from  the  squareness  of 
her  yards  and  symmetry  of  her  sails  was  at  once 
known  to  be  a  man-of-war.  On  discovering  the  Presi 
dent  the  stranger  stood  for  her  under  a  press  of  sail. 
At  two  o'clock  signals  were  exchanged,  but  as  they 
were  unintelligible  the  stranger  continued  on  her  course 
around  Cape  Hatteras.  In  the  meantime  the  breeze 
had  been  dying  away,  so  that  it  was  dark  before  the 
President  drew  near. 

"From  the  symmetry  of  her  upper  sails,"  wrote 
Captain  Rodgers,  the  stranger  was  thought  to  be  the 
Guerriere.  At  8.30  p.  M.  Captain  Kodgers  hailed, 
"  What  ship  is  that?"  and  by  way  of  answer  the 
stranger  repeated  the  question.  The  President  again 
hailed,  and  this  time  received  a  shot  in  the  mainmast. 
Captain  Rodgers  then  ordered  a  shot  to  be  fired  in  re 
turn,  and  this  induced  the  stranger  to  fire  three  guns 
in  quick  succession,  which  she  followed  up  with  a 
broadside.  The  President  then  began  firing  in  earnest, 
but  it  was  soon  perceived  that  she  was  engaging  a  vessel 
much  inferior,  both  in  size  and  in  weight  of  metal,  and 
when  the  stranger  ceased  his  fire  the  President  also 
stopped.  But  the  stranger  again  fired,  whereupon  the 
Americans  reopened  their  broadsides.  The  enemy 


1811.          THE  PRESIDENT  AND  THE  LITTLE  BELT.  315 

soon  swung  end  on,  perfectly  unmanageable,  and  Cap 
tain  Rodgers  then  drew  to  windward  and  remained  in 
the  vicinity  for  the  night  so  as  to  be  of  assistance  if 
necessary.  At  the  break  of  day  the  stranger  was 
seen  to  leeward,  and  the  President  bore  down  and 
sent  Lieutenant  John  Orde  Creighton  aboard  with 
proffers  of  services.  The  vessel  proved  to  be  the  Brit 
ish  22-gun  ship  Little  Belt,  Captain  Arthur  Batt 
Bingham.  She  had  suffered  severely  from  the  Presi 
dent's  fire,  and  had  lost  eleven  killed  and  twenty-one 
wounded.  Captain  Bingham  declined  all  assistance, 
whereupon  the  ships  made  for  their  respective  stations. 
James,  in  his  History  of  the  British  Navy,  admits 
that  uthe  act  of  the  Guerriere  in  pressing  a  native 
American  citizen  out  of  an  American  coaster,  in  the 
very  mouth  of  an  American  port,  was  unjustifiable, 
unnecessary  and  impolitic  ;  and  that  this  wanton  en 
croachment  upon  neutral  rights,  coupled  with  many 
others  which  have  been  practiced  along  the  same  coast, 
was  a  sufficient  ground  for  the  Government  of  the 
United  States  to  take  every  measure,  short  of  actual 
war,  for  protecting  its  commerce  and  citizens  from  the 
repetition  of  such  acts  of  violence."  The  question  as 
to  which  of  these  vessels  fired  the  first  shot  is  one  of 
veracity.  Investigations  were  held  on  both  sides,  and 
resulted  in  diverse  verdicts.  Every  sea  officer  in  the 
President,  besides  many  petty  officers,  was  sworn  and 
examined.  The  chaplain  testified  that  he  felt  no  jar 
when  the  first  gun  was  fired.  Such  being  the  case,  the 
first  shot  could  not  have  been  fired  from  the  President. 
The  number  and  respectability  of  the  witnesses  exam 
ined  in  the  President  put  an  end  to  all  doubt,  so  far 
as  the  Americans  were  concerned,  that  the  Little  Belt 
fired  the  first  shot.  On  the  other  hand,  the  British 
ministry  credited  Captain  Bingham's  version  of  the 
affair,  although  it  is  believed  that  no  thorough  official 
investigation  was  ever  made  among  the  Little  Belfs 
officers  and  men.  As  no  evidence  could  be  adduced 


316  THE  OUTBREAK.  1811-1812. 

that  would  settle  the  dispute,  both  Governments 
dropped  the  matter ;  but  the  people  of  the  two  coun 
tries  took  up  the  question  with  intense  bitterness,  each 
placing  implicit  confidence  in  the  statements  of  its 
officers. 

Some  weeks  after  this  rencounter  the  44-gun  frig 
ate  United  States,  Captain  Stephen  Decatur,  while 
cruising  off  the  harbor  of  New  York  for  the  protection 
of  American  seamen,  fell  in  with  the  British  war  ships 
Eurydice  and  Atalanta.  While  the  commanders 
were  exchanging  hails,  a  gunner  aboard  the  United 
States,  handling  the  lanyard  of  his  lock,  discharged 
the  gun,  afterward  averring  that  it  was  done  acciden 
tally  ;  but  the  circumstances  were  very  suspicious,  and 
Captain  Decatur  believed  that  the  cannon  was  fired 
intentionally  with  a  view  of  bringing  on  an  action. 
Fortunately  the  commanders  were  cool  enough  to 
await  explanations  before  precipitating  an  engagement. 
Captain  Decatur  hastened  to  apologize  for  the  careless 
ness  of  his  gunner,  and  the  affair  was  amicably  dis 
missed  ;  but  the  incident  serves  to  show  the  intense 
feeling  then  existing  between  the  two  nations,  and  the 
careful  preparation  in  which  the  war  ships  were  kept. 

In  the  winter  of  1811-12  a  plot,  instigated  by  emis 
saries  of  the  British  Government,  for  the  dismember 
ment  of  the  American  Union,  was  discovered  to  the 
President  and  Congress.  At  the  same  time  depreda 
tions  on  American  commerce,  against  which  the  United 
States  had  so  long  complained,  were  persisted  in  ;  and 
these  repeated  outrages,  together  with  the  sound  prin 
ciple  that  respect  between  nations  is  mainly  based  on 
force  and  martial  capabilities,  induced  Congress,  on 
the  18th  of  June,  1812,  to  declare  war  against  Great 
Britain.  As  soon  as  war  was  announced  American  mer 
chants  sent  a  swift  sailing  pilot  boat  to  northern  Eu 
rope  to  warn  American  merchantmen  to  remain  in  the 
ports  of  Sweden,  Russia,  Denmark  and  Prussia  until 
the  cessation  of  hostilities.  By  this  means  a  great 


1812.  THE  NAVY  IN   1812.  317 

number  of  American  vessels  was  saved  from  capture. 
The  news  of  the  war  aroused  much  interest  in  the 
Bonapartist  papers  of  the  day,  while  the  Journal  de 
Paris  made  the  following  almost  prophetic  declara 
tion  :  "  The  United  States,  wearied  of  the  commercial 
tyranny  of  England,  draws  from  its  scabbard  the 
sword  of  Washington,  which  has  once  already  hum 
bled  British  pride.  The  efforts  of  the  Americans  excite 
an  interest  in  those  who  recall  with  what  insulting  hau 
teur  they  have  been  treated  by  the  English  Govern 
ment,  which  always  considers  them  as  revolted  colo 
nies.  The  probable  consequence  of  this  new  war  will 
be  a  mortal  blow  to  that  system  of  commercial  monop 
oly  which  England  for  two  centuries  has  so  obstinately 
pursued,  and  which  becomes  weaker  in  proportion  as 
it  becomes  more  extended,  because  it  is  contrary  to  the 
natural  rights  of  other  nations."  l 

The  United  States  navy  at  the  beginning  of  the  War 
of  1812  consisted  of  the  following  vessels  :  The  44-gun 
frigate  President,  the  44-gun  frigate  Constitution,  the 
44-gun  frigate  United  States,  the  36-gun  frigate  Chesa 
peake,  the  36-gun  frigate  Congress,  the  36-gun  frigate 
Constellation,  the  32-gun  frigate  Essex,  the  28-gun 
corvette  Adams,  the  28-gun  corvette  John  Adams,  the 
18-gun  sloop  of  war  Hornet,  the  18-gun  sloop  of  war 
Wasp,  the  16-gun  brig  Argus,  the  16-gun  brig  Siren, 
the  12-gun  schooner  Enterprise,  the  12-gun  Schoon 
er  Nautilus,  the  12-gun  schooner  Vixen,  the  10-gun 
schooner  Viper.  This  makes,  in  all,  seventeen  vessels 
of  war,  fifteen  thousand  three  hundred  tonnage,  and 
four  hundred  and  forty-two  guns.  The  36-gun  frigate 
New  York  and  the  28-gun  corvette  Boston  were  unsea- 
worthy.  The  16-gun  brig  Oneida  was  stationed  on 
Lake  Ontario.  The  officers  and  men  numbered  five 
thousand  and  twenty-five. 

On  the  25th  of  February,  1799,  the  rate  of  payment 

1  Journal  de  Paris,  July  29,  1812. 


318  THE   OUTBREAK.  1799-1817. 

in  the  navy  was  established  as  follows :  Captain  of  a 
ship  of  thirty-two  guns  and  upward,  $100  a  month  and 
eight  rations  a  day  ;  captain  of  a  ship  of  twenty  guns 
and  under  thirty- two  guns,  $75  and  six  rations ;  master- 
commandant,  $60  and  five  rations  ;  lieutenant,  $50  and 
four  rations  ;  any  officer  employed  in  the  command  of 
a  squadron  on  separate  service  received  double  rations,/ 
and  the  commanding  officer  of  the  navy  was  entMm 
to  sixteen  rations  a  day.  This  schedule  remained 
unchanged  until  April  18,  1814,  when  the  President 
was  authorized  "to  make  an  addition  of  twenty-five 
per  cent  to  the  pay  of  the  officers,  petty  officers,  mid 
shipmen,  seamen  and  marines  engaged  in  any  service, 
the  hardships  or  disadvantages  of  which  shall  in  his 
judgment  render  such  an  addition  necessary."  This 
law  was  repealed  February  22,  1817.  On  the  3d  of 
March,  1801,  the  price  of  a  ration  was  fixed  at  twenty 
cents,  and  remained  at  that  figure  until  January  1,  1814, 
when  it  was  raised  to  twenty-five  cents.  In  the  British 
navy  at  this  period  an  admiral  of  the  fleet  received  $30 
a  day  and  was  entitled  to  twelve  servants,  or  $15,624  a 
year ;  an  admiral  received  $25  a  day  and  was  entitled 
to  ten  servants,  or  $13,831  a  year;  a  vice-admiral  re 
ceived  $20  a  day  and  seven  servants,  or  $11,952  a  year  ; 
a  rear-admiral  $15  a  day  and  five  servants,  or  $10,160  a 
year  ;  every  commander  in  chief  received  the  further 
sum  of  $15  a  day  while  his  flag  was  flying  within  the 
limits  of  his  station ;  a  captain  of  the  fleet  received 
$15  a  day  and  three  servants,  or  $5,122.  Each  servant 
was  calculated  at  $8  a  month.  Besides  this,  the  Brit 
ish  officer  enjoyed  many  privileges  and  allowances  not 
known  in  our  navy.  The  pay  of  the  surgeon  after 
six  years  was  $892  ;  after  ten  years,  $1,135  ;  after  twen 
ty  years,  $1,460.  The  pay  of  physicians  of  less  than 
three  years'  service  was  $1,703  ;  of  less  than  ten  years' 
service,  $2,555  ;  and  after  ten  years'  service,  $3,406. 
In  the  Dutch  navy  at  this  time  the  commander 
of  74-gun  ships  received  $3,600  a  year ;  commander 


1812.  A  COMPARISON  OF  THE  TWO  NAVIES.  319 

of   a  frigate,  $3,200  ;   commander  of  a  sloop  of  war, 
$2,000. 

In  1810  Great  Britain  had  one  thousand  and  forty- 
eight  vessels  of  war,  aggregating  eight  hundred  and 
sixty  thousand  nine  hundred  and  ninety  tons,  with 
twenty-seven  thousand  eight  hundred  guns.1  Her  num 
ber  of  commissioned  officers  and  masters  fit  for  duty 
at  the  beginning  of  the  year  1812  was  five  thousand 
two  hundred  and  sixty,  while  Parliament  voted  one 
hundred  and  forty-five  thousand  men,  though  one  hun 
dred  and  forty-six  thousand  three  hundred  and  twelve 
were  actually  in  service. 

A  comparison  of  the  two  navies. 

Ships.  Tons.  Guns.  Men. 

United  States :  17  15,300  442  5,025 

Great  Britain  :  1,048          860,990  27,800          151,572 

At  the  beginning  of  the  War  of  1812,  says  the  Lon 
don  Times  in  its  issue  of  December  28,  1812,  the  Eng 
lish  "had,  from  Halifax  to  the  West  Indies,  seven 
times  the  armament  of  the  whole  American  navy,"  and 
this  force  was  greatly  increased  as  the  war  advanced. 
Besides  this,  Great  Britain  had  naval  ports  at  Halifax, 
Bermuda  and  in  the  West  Indies,  which  were  fitted 
with  docks,  arsenals,  hospitals  and  all  the  appliances 
for  waging  active  warfare.  The  Americans,  on  the 
other  hand,  owing  to  the  mistaken  policy  of  econo 
mists  in  Congress,  were  destitute  of  these  facilities. 
They  had  no  navy  yard  worthy  of  the  name,  the  first 
one  being  established  at  Norfolk,  Ya.,  while  their 
means  for  building,  arming,  equipping  or  refitting 
ships  of  war  were  inadequate  for  the  needs  of  even 
their  few  cruisers. 

In  a  letter  to  Mr.  Cheves,  dated  December  3,  1811, 
Paul  Hamilton,  the  Secretary  of  the  Navy,  said  :  "  The 
United  States  does  not  own  a  dock.  To  repair  our  ves 
sels  we  are  compelled  to  heave  them  down — a  process 

1  Chart  of  the  British  Navy.    F.  Perigal. 


320  THE  OUTBREAK.  1811-1815. 

attended  with  great  labor,  considerable  risk  and  loss 
of  time  ;  and  upon  a  ship  thus  hove  down  the  carpen 
ters  can  not  work  without  much  inconvenience.  Hence 
the  Department  is  subjected  to  much  expense,  which 
might  be  avoided  by  the  construction  of  one  or  more 
suitable  docks."  On  March  3,  1813,  a  section  was  intro 
duced  in  an  Act  for  Increasing  the  Navy,  appropriating 
one  hundred  thousand  dollars  for  the  establishment  of 
a  dock  yard  uin  such  a  central  and  convenient  place 
on  the  seaboard  as  the  President  of  the  United  States 
shall  designate,"  but  this  provision  was  not  carried 
out.  At  that  time  the  cost  of  building  a  dock  in  Eng 
land  was  estimated  at  from  one  hundred  thousand  to 
five  hundred  thousand  dollars,  so  that  the  appropria 
tion  of  one  hundred  thousand  dollars  by  Congress 
would  not  have  provided  a  very  efficient  dock  yard. 
On  the  2d  of  May,  1815,  the  Commissioners  of  the  Navy 
informed  the  Secretary  of  the  Navy  that  "dry  docks 
were  absolutely  necessary,"  and  they  recommended  the 
construction  of  three  sufficiently  large  to  accommodate 
the  largest  class  of  ships. 

Such  being  the  vast  superiority  of  the  forces  against 
which  this  "  untried  navy"  had  to  contend,  it  is  not 
surprising  that  the  Government  determined  to  keep  its 
few  cruisers  in  the  harbors,  to  act  merely  on  the  defen 
sive,  fearing  to  risk  them  on  the  high  seas.  It  is  not 
strange  that  this  "  contemptible  navy"  became  the 
butt  of  ridicule  and  of  the  " unmanly  taunts"  of  Eng 
lish  writers  ;  and  when  Captain  William  Bainbridge 
and  Captain  Charles  Stewart  finally  prevailed  upon 
the  Government  to  grant  our  officers  at  least  a  trial  on 
the  high  seas,  it  is  not  strange  that  the  Navy  Depart 
ment  thought  it  necessary  for  them  to  sail  in  squad 
rons,  lest  by  sailing  separately  they  should  fall  an  easy 
prey  to  the  enemy.  That  subtile  but  powerful  support 
called  "  public  opinion,"  that  popular  backing  which 
in  all  ages  has  infused  a  spirit  of  heroism  into  the 
breasts  of  the  few  so  as  to  carry  them  over  seemingly 


1812.  LACK  OF  CONFIDENCE  IN  THE  NAVY. 

insurmountable  difficulties,  was  somewhat  chilled,  if 
not  entirely  lacking  in  the  case  of  our  seamen,  when 
the  public  and  even  the  Government  distrusted  their 
ability  to  cope  with  the  redoubtable  English  frigate. 
It  is  hard  to  fight  against  confidence,  and  it  is  still 
harder  to  fight  without  confidence,  so  that  between  the 
contempt  shown  for  them  by  the  enemy  and  the  want 
of  confidence  in  their  prowess  on  the  part  of  their  own 
countrymen,  our  officers  found  the  real  difficulties  of 
the  situation  vastly  increased. 


CHAPTER  II. 

THE   FIKST  NAVAL   EFFORTS    OF   1812. 

As  soon  as  war  was  declared,  a  courier  set  out  from 
Washington,  and  in  three  days  arrived  in  New  York. 
One  hour  after  receiving  the  news,  Captain  John  Rodg- 
ers  in  the  44-gun  frigate  President,  with  the  44-gun 
frigate  United  States,  Captain  Stephen  Decatur,  the  36- 
gun  frigate  Congress,  Captain  John  Smith,  the  18-gun 
sloop  Hornet,  Master-Commandant  James  Lawrence, 
and  the  18-gun  brig  Argus,  Lieutenant  Arthur  Sin 
clair,  got  under  way  and  stood  down  the  Narrows. 
The  32-gun  frigate  Essex,  Captain  David  Porter,  was 
to  sail  with  this  squadron,  but  could  not  be  prepared 
in  time.  The  object  of  Captain  Rodgers,  besides  that 
of  a  general  cruise  against  the  enemy,  was  to  intercept 
a  fleet  of  one  hundred  Jamaica  merchant  ships  which 
was  expected  to  pass  near  the  coast  of  the  United 
States  about  this  time. 

Taking  a  southerly  course,  the  American  squadron, 
at  three  o'clock  on  the  morning  of  June  23d,  spoke  to 
an  American  vessel,  and  learned  from  her  master  that 
he  had  seen  the  Jamaica  fleet  steering  eastward  only 
two  days  before.  Crowding  all  sail  in  that  direction, 
the  squadron,  at  six  o'clock  on  the  same  morning,  while 
thirty-five  miles  southwest  of  Nantucket  Shoals,  discov 
ered  a  sail  to  the  northeast.  It  was  the  British  36-gun 
frigate  Belmdera,  Captain  Richard  Byron,  which  was 
waiting  to  intercept  the  French  privateer  Marengo, 
hourly  expected  from  New  London.  A  few  days  pre 
vious  Captain  Byron  had  been  informed  by  pilot  boat 
from  New  York  that  war  was  likely  to  be  declared  at 


1812.  CHASE  OF  THE  BELV1DERA.  323 

any  moment,  and  accordingly  he  was  on  the  alert. 
Having  sighted  the  stranger,  the  Americans  abandoned 
their  search  for  the  merchantmen,  and  made  all  sail  by 
the  wind  on  the  starboard  tack  to  bring  up  with  her. 
At  8.30  A.  M.  the  stranger  made  private  signals,  but 
as  they  were  not  answered  she  stood  away  to  the 
northeast  with  the  squadron  in  pursuit.  The  wind  was 
fresh  from  the  north,  and  by  11  A.  M.  the  President 
had  forged  ahead  of  her  consorts  and  was  slowly  draw 
ing  up  on  the  chase.  Captain  Eodgers  now  cleared  for 
action  and  trained  his  bow  guns  on  the  enemy.  About 
11.30  A.  M.  the  breeze  moderated  and  shifted  to  the 
west,  giving  the  Belmdera  a  slight  advantage,  which 
enabled  her  to  keep  her  lead.  This  distance  she  main 
tained  with  little  variation  until  2  P.  M.,  when  the  wind 
veered  to  the  south,  again  giving  the  President  the  ad 
vantage  in  sailing.  By  this  time  the  Belmdera  was 
flying  English  colors.  At  4.20  p.  M.  Captain  Rodg- 
ers  personally  trained  one  of  his  bow  chasers  on  the 
enemy  and  fired  the  first  shot  of  the  war ;  the  second 
shot  was  fired  from  the  first  division  below  by  Second- 
Lieutenant  Gamble.  Captain  Rodgers  then  fired  the 
third  gun.  One  of  these  shot  struck  the  Belmdertfs 
rudder  coat  and  went  into  the  after  gunroom  ;  the 
other  two  passed  into  the  upper  or  captain's  cabin,1  one 
of  them  striking  the  muzzle  of  the  port  chase  gun,  and 
the  other,  "breaking  into  several  pieces,  killed  one 
man,  mortally  wounded  another,  severely  wounded  two, 
and  slightly  wounded  Lieutenant  William  Henry  Bruce 
and  two  men  standing  beside  him  in  the  act  of  pointing 
the  gun."2  At  4.25  P.  M.  the  enemy  opened  from  his 
stern  chasers  with  considerable  effect.  The  President 
then  fired  her  fourth  shot,  but  the  gun  burst,  which, 
together  with  the  explosion  of  the  passing  box  from 
which  the  gun  was  served,  killed  or  wounded  sixteen 

1  Official  report  of  Captain  Byron. 

2  Allen's  Battles  of  the  British  Navy,  vol.  ii,  p.  395. 


324  THE  FIRST  NAVAL  EFFORTS  OF   1812.  1812. 

men,1  Captain  Rodgers  being  among  the  latter.  He  was 
thrown  into  the  air,  and  in  falling  fractured  a  leg. 
This  disaster  so  shattered  the  main  and  forecastle  decks 
as  temporarily  to  disable  the  remaining  bow  chasers. 

The  broadside  guns  were  then  single-shotted,  and 
yawing  to  port,  the  President  delivered  her  starboard 
fire.  This  cut  the  Belmdertis  "rigging and  sails  much, 
the  long  bolts,  breeching  hooks  and  breechings  of  the 
guns  and  carronades  frequently  breaking. " 2  Resuming 
her  course,  the  President  again  opened  from  her  bow 
guns,  and  the  enemy's  fire  also  had  become  very  accu 
rate,  almost  every  shot  hulling  or  injuring  the  Presi 
dent.  One  shot,  plunging  on  her  deck,  killed  one  mid 
shipman  and  wounded  several  seamen.  At  5  P.  M.  Cap 
tain  Rodgers  tacked  and  delivered  another  effective 
broadside.  The  Belmdera  now  had  ' '  several  of  her 
backstays,  main  shrouds  and  studding-sails  halyards 
shot  away,  and  her  crossjack  yard  badly  wounded."  8 
Again  following  in  the  enemy's  wake,  Captain  Rodgers 
still  gained,  in  spite  of  the  galling  fire  that  the  chase 
kept  up  on  his  rigging  and  spars.  When  the  President 
came  to  the  wind  to  deliver  her  last  broadside  Captain 
Byron  noticed  that  her  head  sails  lifted,  and  so  con 
cluded  that  she  had  in  some  degree  lost  the  effect  of 
her  helm.  He  then  quickly  came  to  with  the  Belm 
dera,  hoping  to  be  able  to  rake  the  American  before 
she  could  follow  the  manoeuvre  ;  but  the  President  was 
too  prompt,  and  after  giving  a  yaw  the  Belmdera  was 
brought  back  to  her  course.  By  6.30  P.  M.  the  Presi 
dent  had  still  more  reduced  her  distance  from  the  ene 
my.  Seeing  that  his  situation  was  becoming  desperate, 
Captain  Byron  began  throwing  overboard  his  spare 
anchors,  barge,  yawl  and  jolly  boat,  and  pumped  'out 
fourteen  tons  of  water.4  This  had  the  desired  effect, 

1  Official  report  of  Captain  Rodgers. 

2  Official  report  of  Captain  Byron. 

3  James'  History  of  the  British  Navy,  vol.  v,  p.  359. 

4  Log  of  the  Belvidera. 


1812.  CHASE  OF  THE  BELVIDERA.  325 

and  from  that  time  the  President,  being  heavily  laden 
for  a  long  cruise,  steadily  lost  ground.  "Four  of  the 
Belvidertfs  boats  were  seen  floating  by  the  President, 
completely  knocked  to  pieces,  together  with  a  great 
number  of  casks,  spars  etc."1  By  still  further  easing 
his  ship  Captain  Byron  was  soon  out  of  gunshot,  and 
by  8  P.  M.  was  two  miles  in  advance  of  his  pursuers. 
The  chase  was  maintained  in  hope  that  some  of  the 
enemy's  spars  might  give  way,  but  at  11.30  p.  M.,  seeing 
that  it  would  be  impossible  to  come  up  with  him,  Cap 
tain  Rodgers  gave  the  signal  of  recall. 

In  this  chase  the  President  lost  three  men  killed 
and  nineteen  wounded,  of  whom  sixteen  were  dis 
abled  by  the  bursting  of  the  bow  gun,  Second- Lieu  ten 
ant  Gamble  being  among  the  wounded.  She  also  suf 
fered  to  some  extent  in  her  rigging,  while  her  sails 
and  spars  were  much  damaged.  The  Belmdera  lost 
two  men  killed  and  twenty-two  wounded.2  Among  the 
latter  was  Captain  Byron,  who  received  a  severe  con 
tusion  on  the  left  thigh.  Besides  the  injuries  already 
mentioned,  the  British  frigate  suffered  extensively  in 
her  rigging,  while  her  "main  topmast  was  badly 
wounded."  3 

Having  lost  the  Belmdera,  the  American  cruisers 
resumed  their  search  for  the  Jamaica  ships,  and  on  the 
1st  of  July  they  fell  in  with  "quantities  of  cocoanut 
shells  and  orange  peels,"  which  showed  that  they  were 
in  the  wake  of  the  fleet ;  but  owing  to  dense  fogs  noth 
ing  was  seen  of  the  merchantmen,  although  they  must 
have  been  within  a  few  miles  of  the  squadron.  On  the 
9th  of  July  the  Hornet  captured  an  English  letter  of 
marque.  By  the  13th  the  American  cruisers  had  ar 
rived  "within  eighteen  or  twenty  hours'  sail  of  the 
English  channel,"4  when  they  steered  southward. 

1  Private  account  of  one  of  the  officers  in  the  President. 

2  James'  History  of  the  British  Navy,  vol.  v,  p.  360. 

3  Log  of  the  Belvidera. 

4  Journal  of  Captain  Rodgers. 


326  THE  FIRST  NAVAL  EFFORTS   OF   1812.  1812. 

Passing  the  Madeiras,  the  Western  Isles  and  the 
Grand  Banks,  Captain  Rodgers  arrived  in  Boston  on 
the  29th  of  August,  having  been  at  sea  sixty-nine 
days. 

The  meager  results  of  this  first  essay  of  the  navy  on 
the  high  seas  caused  great  disappointment  throughout 
the  country.  The  squadron  had  been  fitted  out  with 
much  care,  was  commanded  by  experienced  officers  and 
had  the  advantage  of  taking  the  enemy  unawares,  and 
it  was  confidently  expected  that  a  heavy  blow  would 
be  struck  at  British  commerce.  It  is  not  surprising, 
then,  that  the  people,  when  the  most  formidable  naval 
force  which  they  could  hope  to  get  together  during  the 
war  came  back  without  having  accomplished  its  pur 
pose,  were  confirmed  in  their  doubts  as  to  the  ability  of 
their  navy  to  meet  the  mistress  of  the  seas. 

The  Essex,  Captain  David  Porter,  twelve  days  after 
the  American  cruisers  left  New  York,  got  under  way 
for  a  cruise  to  the  south  in  search  of  the  British  36-gun 
frigate  Thetis,  which  contained  a  large  amount  of 
specie  for  South  America.  After  taking  a  few  prizes 
on  this  course,  and  failing  to  meet  the  Thetis,  the  Essex 
headed  north,  and  on  the  night  of  July  10th  she  came 
across  a  fleet  of  merchantmen.  As  the  moon  was  ob 
scured  by  clouds,  the  approach  of  the  Essex  was  not 
observed,  and  Captain  Porter  determined  to  avail  him 
self  of  this  circumstance  to  ascertain  the  force  of  the 
escort,  and,  if  it  did  not  prove  too  strong,  to  carry  her 
by  surprise.  Every  precaution  was  taken  to  deceive 
the  strangers  as  to  the  Essex*  character.  Her  guns 
were  run  in  and  the  ports  closed,  the  topgallant  masts 
housed,  sails  were  trimmed  in  a  slovenly  manner,  the 
men  were  carefully  concealed,  save  a  few  to  work  the 
ship,  and  every  other  effort  was  made  to  give  her  the 
appearance  of  a  merchantman.  Waiting  until  three 
o'clock  in  the  morning,  the  Essex  filled  away  and  un 
der  easy  canvas  gradually  drew  among  the  strangers. 
The  escort  of  the  fleet  was  soon  discovered  some  dis- 


1812.          THE  ESSEX'  AUDACIOUS  NIGHT  ATTACK.  327 

tance  in  advance,  but  she  was  not  near  enough  for 
Captain  Porter  to  make  out  her  force.  Edging  along 
side  of  the  sternmost  vessel,  Captain  Porter  opened  a 
conversation  with  her  master,  from  which  he  gathered 
that  the  fleet  was  transporting  about  a  thousand  sol 
diers  from  Barbadoes  to  Quebec,  and  that  the  convoy 
ing  vessel  was  the  British  32-gun  frigate  Minerva, 
Captain  Richard  Hawkins  ;  besides  which  there  was  a 
bomb  ship  and  several  heavily  armed  merchantmen. 

As  the  people  of  the  vessel  thus  spoken  to  did  not 
seem  to  be  suspicious  of  the  Essex,  Captain  Porter 
drew  still  more  into  the  fleet  for  the  purpose  of  getting 
alongside  of  the  Minerva.  Drawing  carefully  ahead, 
he  spoke  to  a  second  vessel,  but  the  appearance  of  the 
Essex  so  alarmed  the  master  of  this  ship  that  he  was 
about  to  signal  the  escort  that  a  stranger  had  joined 
the  fleet,  when  the  Essex*  ports  were  thrown  up  and 
twenty  black  muzzles  were  thrust  out.  The  English 
man  was  then  commanded  to  maintain  the  strictest 
silence  and  to  follow  close  in  the  frigate's  wake,  under 
penalty  of  being  blown  out  of  the  water.  So  skillfully 
did  Captain  Porter  manoeuvre  his  ship  and  prize  out 
of  the  fleet,  that  the  other  vessels  did  not  manifest  the 
first  symptoms  of  alarm.  Taking  the  vessel  out  a  short 
distance,  he  found  her  to  be  a  brig  with  one  hundred 
and  ninety^seven  British  soldiers  aboard.  Returning 
to  the  fleet,  the  Essex  was  about  to  renew  her  hazard 
ous  attack  when  the  morning  light  discovered  her  to 
the  enemy,  and,  seeing  that  further  disguise  was  un 
necessary,  Captain  Porter  trimmed  his  ship  in  true 
man  of  war  style,  cleared  for  action  and  offered  battle 
to  the  Minerva.  But  Captain  Hawkins,  although  the 
Essex  and  her  prize  remained  for  some  time  on  the 
outskirts  of  his  convoy,  deemed  it  his  duty  to  abide  by 
fche  remainder  of  his  vessels,  so,  leaving  the  Essex,  he 
continued  his  course  for  Quebec,  while  Captain  Porter 
resumed  his  course  to  the  south.  His  prize  afterward 
was  ransomed  for  fourteen  thousand  dollars. 


328  THE  FIRST   NAVAL  EFFORTS  OF   1812.  1812. 

From  this  time  the  Esse-x  met  nothing  worthy  of 
note  until  the  13th  of  August,  when  a  sail  was  made 
out  which  proved  to  be  a  man  of  war.  The  men  of 
the  Essex,  who  had  become  skillful  in  the  art  of  dis 
guising  their  ship,  gave  the  Essex  the  appearance  of  a 
merchantman  endeavoring  to  escape.  "  We  put  our 
drags  astern  and  led  the  enemy  to  believe  we  were  de 
sirous  of  making  our  escape  by  sending  men  aloft, 
shaking  out  the  reefs,  mastheading  the  yards,  and 
making  sail."  1  So  well  was  the  deception  kept  up 
that  the  stranger,  dispensing  with  the  usual  manoeu 
vres  for  ascertaining  the  speed  and  force  of  an  antago 
nist,  ran  down  on  the  weather  quarter,  gave  three  cheers 
and  opened  fire.  The  Essex  responded  with  a  broad 
side,  which,  followed  up  with  a  steady  fire,  reduced  the 
enemy  to  a  sinking  condition  in  " eight  minutes,"2 
when  she  surrendered.  On  sending  Lieutenant  Finch 
(afterward  Captain  Bolton)  aboard  the  prize  she  was 
found  to  be  the  British  16-gun  ship-sloop  Alert,  Cap 
tain  Thomas  Lamb  Paulden  Laugharne.  The  Alert  car 
ried  two  long  12-pounders  and  eighteen  short  32- 
pounders,  with  eighty-six  men.  Only  three  of  her  men 
were  wounded,8  but  her  rigging  and  hull  were  badly  in 
jured,  and  seven  feet  of  water  was  in  the  hold.  The 
Essex,  mounting  forty  32-pounders  and  six  long  12- 
pounders,  did  not  "receive  the  slightest  injury,"4  all 
the  shot  from  the  Alert  falling  wide  of  the  mark. 
When  the  seamen  in  the  British  ship  had  come  fairly 
alongside  of  the  Essex  and  had  received  her  first  broad 
side,  they  deserted  their  guns  and  "went  aft  to  request 
their  captain  to  strike  the  colors,"  5  and  several  of  them, 
on  being  exchanged,  were  executed.  The  British  offi 
cial  report  of  this  action  has  not  been  published.  The 

1  Farragut's  Journal. 

2  Official  report  of  Captain  Porter. 

3  Washington  Irving's  Spanish  Papers. 

4  Official  report  of  Captain  Porter. 

5  James'  History  of  the  British  Navy,  vol.  v,  p.  366. 


1812.  A  BRITISH   CONSPIRACY  IN  THE  ESSEX.  329 

flag  of  the  Alert  is  preserved  in  the  Naval  Institute 
Building  at  Annapolis. 

The  Essex  now  had  five  hundred  prisoners  aboard, 
who  outnumbered  her  crew  two  to  one,  and  it  was  not 
long  before  a  conspiracy  was  formed  to  capture  the 
frigate  and  carry  her  into  Halifax.  But  the  plot  was 
frustrated  in  a  manner  which  again  illustrates  the  su 
perior  discipline  that  was  maintained  in  the  United 
States  navy.  Mention  has  already  been  made  of  a 
habit  Captain  Porter  had  of  sounding  the  alarm  of  fire 
at  all  hours  of  the  night  when  the  ship  was  at  sea, 
and  of  still  further  testing  the  nerves  of  his  crew  by 
starting  a  fire  in  the  hatches,  so  as  thoroughly  to  ac 
custom  the  men  to  the  danger.  The  coxswain  of  the 
AlerVs  gig  was  the  leader  in  the  conspiracy  to  capture 
the  ship,  and  on  the  night  determined  upon  for  the  at 
tempt  he  approached  the  hammock  of  Midshipman 
David  Glasgow  Farragut,  famous  in  the  Civil  War,  pis 
tol  in  hand,  to  see  if  he  were  awake.  Feigning  to  be 
asleep,  young  Farragut,  as  soon  as  the  coxswain  passed 
on,  slipped  out  of  his  hammock  unobserved,  crept  into 
the  cabin  and  informed  Captain  Porter  of  what  was 
going  on.  Captain  Porter  promptly  rushed  into  the 
berth  deck  giving  the  alarm  of  "Fire!"  The  well- 
trained  American  crew  promptly  responded  to  the  call 
and  repaired  to  the  main  hatch,  where  they  were  armed 
and  received  their  orders  from  Captain  Porter.  The 
prisoners  became  panic-stricken,  and  were  secured  be 
fore  they  recovered  from  their  confusion. 

Desiring  to  rid  himself  of  his  dangerous  prisoners, 
but  being  unwilling  to  return  immediately  to  port,  Cap 
tain  Porter,  after  having  thrown  all  the  AlerVs  guns 
overboard,  employed  her  as  a  cartel,  and  sent  the  pris 
oners  to  Nova  Scotia  on  parole  under  the  command  of 
Lieutenant  James  P.  Wilmer.  This  arrangement,  al 
though  agreed  to  by  Captain  Laugharne,  was  not  in  ac 
cordance  with  the  rules  of  war,  for  the  Essex  was  still 
several  days  from  port  and  liable  to  lawful  capture, 

24 


330  THE   FIRST   NAVAL   EFFORTS  OF   1812.  1812. 

and  her  prisoners  to  recapture.  By  thus  disposing  of 
his  prisoners  on  the  open  sea  Captain  Porter  deprived 
British  cruisers  of  this  chance  to  recapture  them,  but 
Admiral  Sir  John  T.  Duckworth  generously  sustained 
the  agreement  made  by  his  subordinate,  saying,  "I 
am  willing  to  give  proof  at  once  of  my  respect  for  the 
liberality  with  which  the  captain  of  the  Essex  has 
acted  in  more  than  one  instance  toward  British  sub 
jects  who  have  fallen  into  his  hands." 

About  midnight,  August  30th,  Captain  Porter  dis 
covered  a  suspicious  sail  standing  toward  him,  but 
the  stranger,  after  making  a  private  signal,  consist 
ing  of  two  flashes  and  a  blue  light,  and  finding 
that  it  was  not  answered,  put  about  and  crowded  all 
sail  to  escape,  and  by  daybreak  she  was  nowhere  to  be 
seen. 

On  the  night  of  September  4th,  while  in  latitude  39° 
11'  North,  longitude  70°  22'  West,  the  Essex  was  chased 
by  the  38-gun  frigate  Shannon,  Captain  Philip  Bowes 
Vere  Broke,  and  another  ship.  Believing  that  the  two 
British  ships  had  become  separated  in  the  night,  Cap 
tain  Porter  determined  under  cover  of  the  darkness  to 
surprise  the  leading  frigate  (the  Shannon,  although 
Captain  Porter  was  ignorant  of  her  name)  and  to  carry 
her  by  boarding — an  attempt  fully  in  keeping  with  the 
daring  of  the  American  commander  and  crew,  as  is 
shown  in  the  Essex?  subsequent  career  in  the  Pacific. 
All  lights  were  extinguished,  the  stream  anchor  and 
cable  were  triced  up  to  the  main  yard,  ready  to  be 
dropped  on  the  enemy's  deck,  and  every  preparation 
was  made  to  board  the  English  ship.  The  Essex  was 
then  put  about  and  a  sharp  lookout  was  kept  for  the 
enemy.  As  the  night  wore  on,  however,  no  trace  of  the 
Shannon  could  be  found,  and  at  daybreak  the  ships 
were  not  in  sight.  Captain  Porter  then  headed  for  the 
United  States,  and  arrived  in  the  Delaware  on  the  7th 
of  September.  During  this  cruise  of  sixty  days  the 
Essex  made  nine  prizes,  secured  over  five  hundred  pris- 


1812.   THE  CONSTITUTION  IN  PORTSMOUTH,   ENGLAND.    331 

oners  and  recaptured  five  American  privateers  and  mer 
chantmen. 

In  the  latter  part  of  the  year  1811  the  44-gun  frigate 
Constitution,  Captain  Isaac  Hull,  was  dispatched  to 
Europe  with  specie  for  payment  of  interest  due  on  the 
debt  to  Holland.  From  the  Texel  the  Constitution  pro 
ceeded  to  Portsmouth  in  order  to  communicate  with  the 
legation  in  London.  Late  one  night,  while  she  was  in 
this  port,  a  British  officer  came  aboard  with  the  informa 
tion  that  an  American  deserter  was  in  the  British  man- 
of-war  Havana,  and  that  he  would  be  given  up  when 
desired.  On  the  following  morning  a  boat  was  sent  for 
him,  but  the  British  commander  said  that  it  was  neces 
sary  first  to  get  an  order  from  Admiral  Sir  Roger  Cur 
tis.  In  the  absence  of  Captain  Hull,  First-Lieutenant 
Charles  Morris,  of  the  Constitution,  waited  on  the  ad 
miral,  but  was  informed  that  the  deserter  claimed  to  be 
a  British  subject  and  that  he  would  not  be  given  up. 
Additional  sentries  were  now  stationed  in  the  Constitu 
tion,  and  on  the  following  night  the  report  of  a  musket 
shot  startled  the  ship's  company.  Hastening  to  the 
deck,  Lieutenant  Morris  found  that  a  deserter  from  the 
Havana  had  come  aboard,  and  on  being  asked  his 
nationality  he  answered  in  an  unmistakable  brogue, 
"  An  American,  sor."  Lieutenant  Morris  sent  word  to 
the  commander  of  the  Havana  that  a  British  deserter 
was  aboard  the  Constitution,  and  the  next  morning  the 
American  officer  had  the  satisfaction  of  refusing  to 
give  up  the  man,  and  assigned  the  same  reason  as  that 
given  by  Admiral  Curtis  when  he  refused  to  give  up 
the  deserter  from  the  Constitution.  This  spirited  re 
fusal  aroused  much  angry  comment  on  the  part  of  the 
British  officers  in  the  port,  and  threats  of  using  force 
were  freely  expressed.  Signals  were  now  made  from 
the  British  flagship,  and  soon  afterward  two  frigates 
bore  down  on  the  Constitution  and  anchored  so  near 
that  it  was  almost  impossible  for  her  to  get  under  way 
without  fouling  them.  With  much  skill  Lieutenant 


332  THE  FIRST  NAVAL  EFFORTS  OF   1812.  1812. 

Morris  got  the  American  frigate  under  way  and  an 
chored  a  short  distance  from  his  objectionable  neigh 
bors  ;  but  he  had  scarcely  done  so  when  the  two 
British  ships  also  got  under  way  and  again  anchored 
close  beside  him. 

That  evening  Captain  Hull  came  aboard,  with  sev 
eral  American  gentlemen  as  passengers,  and  gave  the 
order  to  put  to  sea.  As  the  Americans  anticipated 
trouble,  the  crew  was  sent  to  quarters,  the  battle  lan 
terns  were  lighted,  the  decks  cleared,  and  ammunition 
was  piled  near  the  guns  in  readiness  for  immediate 
action.  The  anchor  was  then  weighed  and  the  ship 
stood  down  the  Roads,  while  the  two  British  frigates 
also  got  under  way  and  followed  the  American  ship  to 
sea.  Captain  Hull  had  no  intention  of  being  taken  un 
prepared,  like  Captain  James  Barron  in  the  Chesa 
peake,  when  that  ship  was  attacked  by  the  Leopard, 
in  1807,  and  he  made  every  preparation  for  a  desperate 
resistance.  The  swift-sailing  Constitution  led  the 
Englishmen  a  long  chase,  and  soon  left  one  of  their 
frigates  far  behind ;  but  their  second  ship  still  main 
tained  the  pursuit.  "If  that  fellow  wants  to  fight," 
remarked  Captain  Hull  to  a  lieutenant,  "  we  won't 
disappoint  him,"  and  he  gave  the  order  to  heave  to, 
and  allowed  the  Englishman  to  come  up.  Every  one 
now  believed  that  the  Chesapeake- Leopard  affair  was 
to  be  repeated,  and  as  the  British  frigate  came  within 
hail  the  eagerness  of  the  entire  ship's  company  for  an 
action  was  at  a  high  pitch.  The  men  pulled  the  gun 
tackles  as  if  they  would  jerk  the  bolts  through  the  side 
of  the  ship,  while  the  officers,  passing  through  the  dif 
ferent  divisions  to  see  that  everything  was  in  readiness 
for  immediate  action,  gave  words  of  encouragement  to 
the  crew.  But  the  men  needed  no  urging.  "Let  the 
quarter-deck  look  out  for  the  colors,  and  we'll  look  after 
the  guns,"  replied  one  brawny  tar  who  had  stripped  to 
the  waist,  eager  for  the  fray.  Whether  the  too  evident 
desire  of  the  American  frigate  to  engage  rendered  the 


1812.  CHASE  OF  THE  CONSTITUTION.  333 

Englishman  more  cautious,  or  whether  the  chase  was 
intended  merely  to  bully  the  American  commander  into 
surrendering  the  deserter,  is  not  known,  but  on  coming 
within  hail  the  Englishman  exchanged  a  few  common 
place  hails  and  then  stood  about  on  a  different  course. 
When  the  drum  beat  the  retreat  and  the  boatswain 
piped  the  men  down  there  was  a  sorely  disappointed 
lot  of  men  in  the  American  frigate.  They  were  dis 
gusted  at  this  tame  ending  of  a  valorous  chase.  The 
Constitution  resumed  her  course  for  Cherbourg,  and 
remaining  at  that  port  only  long  enough  to  refit,  she 
stood  over  to  America,  and  in  due  time  arrived  in  the 
Chesapeake,  where  she  was  cleaned  and  coppered. 

Captain  Hull  now  learned  of  the  beginning  of  hos 
tilities,  and  shipping  a  new  crew,  many  of  whom  had 
"never  been  on  an  armed  vessel  before," 1  one  hundred 
having  joined  the  ship  the  night  before  she  sailed,  he 
put  to  sea  on  the  12th  of  July  with  instructions  to  join 
the  squadron  under  the  command  of  Captain  Rodgers 
at  JSTew  York.  Although  the  crew  of  the  Constitution 
was  largely  made  up  of  inexperienced  men,  yet  her 
officers  were  among  the  best  in  the  service.  They  were : 
Charles  Morris,  first  lieutenant ;  Alexander  Scammel 
Wadsworth  (an  uncle  of  the  poet  Longfellow),  second 
lieutenant ;  George  Campbell  Read,  third  lieutenant ; 
Beekman  Yerplank  Hoffman,  fourth  lieutenant ;  John 
Templer  Shubrick,  fifth  lieutenant ;  Charles  W.  Mor 
gan,  a  midshipman  who  was  acting  as  sixth  lieutenant ; 
John  C.  Alwyn,  sailing-master;  William  S.  Brush  and 
John  Contee,  lieutenants  of  marines ;  Amos  E.  Evans, 
surgeon ;  John  D.  Armstrong  and  Donaldson  Yeates, 
surgeon's  mates ;  Thomas  J.  Chew,  purser ;  Henry 
Gilliam,  Thomas  Beatty,  William  D.  Salter,  Lewis 
German,  William  L.  Gordon,  Ambrose  D.  Field,  Fred 
erick  Baury,  Joseph  Cross,  J.  Alexander  Belcher, 
William  Taylor,  Alexander  Eskridge,  James  W.  De- 

1  Official  report  of  Captain  Hull. 


334:  THE   FIRST  NAVAL   EFFORTS  OF   1812.  1812. 

lancy,  James  Greenlaw,  Allen  Griffin  and  John  Taylor, 
midshipmen  ;  Peter  Adams,  boatswain,  and  Robert 
Anderson,  gunner.  In  keeping  with  the  timorous  pol 
icy  of  the  Government,  Captain  Hull  had  been  particu 
larly  instructed  "not  to  voluntarily  encounter  a  force 
superior  to  his  own." 

Till  the  17th  of  July  the  Constitution  had  been 
progressing  on  an  uneventful  voyage,  when  at  two 
o'clock  in  the  afternoon  four  sails  were  made  out  di 
rectly  ahead  about  twelve  miles  off  Barnegat.  At  this 
moment  the  ship  was  under  easy  canvas,  and  the 
weather  was  clear,  with  a  fresh  breeze  from  the  north 
east.  At  three  o'clock  the  lead  showed  eighteen  and  a 
half  fathoms,  and  finding  that  he  was  getting  too  near 
the  coast,  Captain  Hull  went  about  on  the  opposite 
tack,  steering  due  east.  The  vessels  in  sight  were 
Captain  Philip  Bowes  Yere  Broke's  blockading  squad 
ron,  which  consisted  of  the  following  ships :  The  38-gun 
frigate  Shannon,  Captain  Broke ;  the  64-gun  razee 
Africa,  Captain  John  Bastard ;  the  36-gun  frigate 
Belmdera,  Captain  Richard  Byron ;  and  the  32-gun 
frigate  Molus,  Captain  Lord  James  Townshend.  On 
the  same  day  this  squadron  had  captured  the  United 
States  12-gun  schooner  Nautilus,  Lieutenant  William 
Montgomery  Crane,  but  not  without  a  hard  chase  of 
six  hours,  in  which  all  her  lee  guns  were  thrown  over 
board.  The  Nautilus  was  added  to  the  British  serv 
ice  (her  name  being  changed  to  Emulous,  as  the  Eng- 
glish  had  just  lost  a  cruiser  of  that  name),  and  Lieuten 
ant  Crane  and  his  officers  and  men,  one  hundred  and 
six  in  all,  were  taken  aboard  the  Africa. 

At  4  P.  M.  Captain  Hull  descried  another  sail  to  the 
north,  which,  being  to  windward,  was  in  a  position  to 
close.  This  ship,  which  proved  to  be  the  38-gun  frig 
ate  Guerriere,  Captain  James  Richard  Dacres,  did 
not  seem  desirous  of  coming  down,  and,  on  sighting 
the  Constitution,  kept  her  wind.  The  breeze  contin 
ued  light  from  the  northeast  until  6.30  P.  M.,  when  it 


1812.  THE  CHASE  OP   THE  CONSTITUTION.  335 

shifted  around  to  the  southeast,  giving  the  Americans 
the  weather  gage.  Availing  himself  of  this,  Captain 
Hull  bore  down  on  the  Guerriere,  keeping  her  just  off 
his  port  bow,  and  at  7.30  P.  M.,  being  nearly  within 
gunshot,  he  cleared  for  action  and  beat  to  quarters. 
For  two  hours  longer  the  two  frigates  silently  contin 
ued  on  converging  courses,  cautiously  drawing  nearer 
to  each  other.  At  10.30  p.  M.  Captain  Hull  made  the 
private  night  signals  and  kept  them  up  forty-five  min 
utes,  without  getting  an  answer  ;  but  he  was  unwill 
ing  to  engage,  as  the  strangers  first  discovered  were 
still  in  his  wake.  At  half  past  three  in  the  morning, 
July  18th,  the  Guerriere,  then  only  half  a  mile  to  lee 
ward,  fired  two  guns  and  a  rocket,  and  immediately 
afterward  made  all  sail  before  the  wind,  and  when  day 
broke  she  was  fully  two  miles  northward.  In  explana 
tion  of  this  sudden  flight  of  the  Guerriere,  James  says  : 
"  These  two  frigates  continued  to  near  each  other,  and 
at  3. 30  A.  M.  on  the  18th  were  only  half  a  mile  apart ; 
when,  observing  on  his  lee  beam  two  other  frigates,  the 
Belmdera  and  Molus,  and  astern  of  them  three  more 
vessels,  the  Shannon,  the  Africa  and  a  schooner  [the 
Nautilus},  none  of  whom  answered  or  appeared  to  un 
derstand  his  signals,  Captain  Dacres  concluded  that 
they  were  the  squadron  of  Captain  Rodgers,  and 
tacked."1 

The  same  mistake  seems  to  have  been  made  by  the 
other  British  commanders.  Captain  Byron  reported  : 
"lam  much  concerned  that  the  blame  should  fall  so 
heavily  on  Captain  Dacres  of  the  Guerriere.  We  were 
at  quarters  all  night.  The  Guerriere  and  the  Ameri 
can  frigate  were  seen  from  us  most  of  the  night,  and 
being  near  together,  the  impression  on  my  mind  was 
that  they  were  both  American  frigates.  We  often 
saw  lights  on  board  both  of  them  during  the  night,  and 
I  thought  they  were  making  signals  to  each  other.  I 

1  James'  History  of  the  British  Navy,  vol.  v,  p.  370. 


336  THE  FIRST  NAVAL  EFFORTS  OF   1812.  1812. 

expected  to  be  in  action  very  early  in  the  morning,  and 
did  not  make  signals,  being  apprehensive  that  they 
might  induce  the  enemy  to  make  sail  from  us.  I 
really  did  not  think,  from  the  squadron's  position  in 
the  evening,  that  the  Guerriere  would  take  the  Belm- 
dera  and  the  JEolus  to  be  American  frigates.  About 
seven  bells  in  the  middle  watch,  as  it  must  have  been 
(as  the  night  signal  appears  to  have  been  made  by  the 
Guerriere  at  3.15  A.  M.),  it  [the  signal]  was  reported  to 
me  on  the  quarter-deck ;  but  from  the  haziness  of  the 
morning  I  was  not  satisfactorily  convinced  that  it  wTas 
the  real  night  signal.  I  rather  thought  it  was  the  sig 
nal  to  distinguish  British  ships  from  the  enemy  when 
going  into  or  in  action,  and  I  had  mine  hanging  at  the 
gaff,  ready  for  showing,  all  night.  The  American 
came  down  within  a  mile  of  my  bow  and  hauled  close 
upon  the  starboard  tack.  My  anxiety  wras  not  to 
frighten  him  away  by  signals.  I  am  now  sorry  that  I 
did  not  answer  the  Guerriertfs  signals,  but  as  it  was 
so  near  daylight  a  day  signal  might  nearly  be  seen  as 
well.  I  considered  the  rockets  and  guns  of  the  Guer 
riere  as  announcing  an  enemy  in  view  ;  but  whether 
one  or  more  ships,  the  daylight  immediately  coming  on 
would  inform  us." 

Daylight  showed  that  the  strangers  were  British 
ships,  and  Captain  Hull  immediately  put  about  to  the 
south  to  escape.  At  5  A.  M.  the  wind,  which  had  been 
light,  failed  entirely.  At  that  moment  the  Belm- 
dera  was  about  four  miles  off  the  Constitutions  lee 
quarter,  Captain  Dacres,  in  the  Guerriere  (who  by  this 
time  had  discovered  the  strangers  to  be  friends),  was 
to  leeward  of  the  Belvidera,  the  Shannon  was  on 
the  weather  quarter  of  the  Guerriere^  and  the  other 
ships  brought  up  the  rear.  At  5.15  A.  M.  Captain 
Hull  hoisted  out  the  first  cutter  and  got  his  other  boats 
to  tow.  In  the  meantime  a  24-pounder  was  hoisted 
from  the  main  deck  to  the  quarter-deck,  to  be  used  as  a 
stern  chaser,  and  an  18-pounder  from  the  forecastle 


1812  THE  CHASE  OF  THE  CONSTITUTION.  337 

was  brought  aft,  a  portion  of  the  taffrail  being  cut 
away  to  make  room  for  it.  Then  two  more  guns  were 
run  out  of  the  cabin  ports,  giving  the  Constitution  in 
all  four  stern  chasers.1  The  American  frigate  then  set 
her  topgallant  studding  sails  and  staysails. 

At  5.45  A.  M.  Captain  Byron,  of  the  Belmdera,  de 
tecting  the  means  by  which  the  Constitution  was  slow 
ly  drawing  away,  sent  his  boats  ahead  to  tow,  and  this 
expedient  was  then  resorted  to  by  nearly  all  the  com 
manders.  Every  effort  that  ingenuity  or  experience 
could  suggest  was  made  to  increase  the  Constitution's 
headway,  and  even  the  hammocks  were  removed  from 
the  nettings  and  the  cloths  rolled  up  to  prevent  their 
unfavorable  action.  "But  in  spite  of  all  these  exer 
tions,"  wrote  Lieutenant  Morris,  "our  chance  fores- 
cape  was  considered  hopeless.  For  many  months  the 
Constitution  had  proved  a  very  dull  sailer,  especially 
during  the  late  cruise  in  Europe,  and  it  was  supposed 
that  the  first  steady  breeze  would  bring  up  such  a  force 
as  would  render  resistance  of  no  avail,  and  our  situa 
tion  seemed  hopeless.  At  about  eight  o'clock  one  of 
the  British  frigates  called  all  the  boats  of  the  squadron 
to  her,  and  having  arranged  them  for  towing,  furled  all 
sail.  This  brought  her  toward  us  steadily  and  seemed 
to  decide  our  fate.  Fortunately  for  us,  however,  a 
slight  breeze  sent  us  forward  a  few  hundred  yards  be 
fore  the  English  frigate  could  set  her  sails  to  profit  by 
it."2  This  light  puff  of  air  soon  died  away,  and  again 
the  British  frigate  was  slowly  but  surely  drawing  up 
to  her  prey.  The  enemy  now  opened  fire,  and  some  of 
his  shot  passed  over  the  Constitution  ! 

At  this  critical  juncture,  the  lead  showing  twenty- 
six  fathoms,  First- Lieu  tenant  Charles  Morris  suggested 
the  feasibility  of  kedging.  "  With  our  minds  excited 
to  the  utmost  to  devise  means  for  escape,  I  happened 

1  Log  of  the  Constitution. 

2  Autobiography  of  Commodore  Morris. 


P,38  THE  FIRST   NAVAL  EFFORTS  OF   1812.  1812. 

to  recollect  that,  when  obliged  by  the  timidity  of  my 
old  commander,  -  — ,  to  warp  the  President  in  and 
out  of  harbors  where  others  depended  on  sails,  our 
practice  had  enabled  us  to  give  her  a  speed  of  nearly 
three  miles  an  hour."1  As  the  situation  of  the  frigate 
was  growing  desperate,  Captain  Hull  resolved  to  at 
tempt  kedging,  and  accordingly  the  hawsers  and  rig 
ging  in  the  ship,  from  a  five-inch  rope  upward,  were 
spliced  into  a  line  nearly  a  mile  long,  one  end  of  which 
was  bent  to  a  kedge  or  small  anchor  and  carried 
ahead  of  the  frigate  in  a  boat  to  the  full  extent  of  the 
line  and  dropped  into  the  water.  The  men  then  seized 
the  inboard  end,  and,  hauling  slowly  and  carefully  at 
first,  until  the  ship  was  in  motion,  gradually  increased 
the  tension,  and  ran  aft  with  it,  thus  warping  the  ship 
ahead.  In  the  meantime  another  line  and  kedge  were 
prepared,  so  that  by  the  time  the  first  kedge  was 
tripped  the  second  was  ready  to  be  hauled  on.  The 
Constitution  now  fired  a  gun  and  hoisted  her  colors  by 
way  of  waving  an  adieu.  It  was  some  time  before  the 
puzzled  Englishmen  could  understand  how  the  Ameri 
can  frigate,  out  of  sight  of  land  and  in  a  calm,  could 
thus  glide  from  their  grasp.  But  it  was  only  for  a 
short  time  that  Captain  Hull  enjoyed  the  enemy's  per 
plexity,  for  Captain  Byron  (who  by  this  time  undoubt 
edly  was  well  versed  in  the  arts  of  escape)  discovered 
the  secret,  and  promptly  followed  his  example  by 
"  bending  all  his  hawsers  to  one  another  and  working 
two  kedges  at  the  same  time."2  It  is  difficult  to  de 
termine  to  whom  should  be  adjudged  the  praise :  to 
the  Yankee  for  his  ingenuity  in  devising  means  of 
escape,  or  to  the  British  tar  for  the  readiness  he  dis 
played  in  imitation. 

At  9.09   A.  M.  a  light  breeze  sprang  up  from  the 
south,  and  Captain  Hull  braced  by  the  wind  on  the 

1  Autobiography  of  Commodore  Morris. 

2  Marshall's  History  of  the  English  Navy,  vol.  ii,  p.  627. 


Chase  of  the  Constitution. 

In  order  to  make  the  sails  hold  the  wind  better,  streams  of  water  were 
played  on  them,  and  buckets  of  water  were  dashed  on  the  upper  sails. 


1812.  THE  CHASE  OF  THE  CONSTITUTION.  339 

port  tack,  and,  without  losing  an  inch,  of  headway,  ran 
his  boats  up  to  their  davits  or  suspended  them  from 
spars  in  the  chains  by  temporary  tackles  with  their 
crews  still  in  them,  ready  to  resume  towing  again  at  a 
moment's  notice.  The  breeze  came  at  a  most  oppor 
tune  time,  for  the  enemy,  having  put  all  his  boats 
on  the  leading  ship,  was  gradually  bringing  her  into 
long  range.  Once  there,  she  would  soon  have  crippled 
the  Constitution's  spars  and  rigging,  so  that,  when  the 
wind  did  serve,  the  Belvidera  and  the  Guerriere  would 
have  had  no  difficulty  in  closing.  But,  seeing  the 
American  frigate  for  the  third  time  eluding  their 
clutches,  the  Guerriere  fired  a  harmless  broadside.  At 
10  A.  M.  it  again  fell  calm,  when  Captain  Hull  prompt 
ly  sent  his  boats  out  to  resume  towing  and  kedging. 
The  enemy  then  got  all  his  boats  on  the  Belmdertfs 
tow  line,  which  enabled  her  to  gain  so  much  that  Cap 
tain  Hull  was  compelled  to  lighten  his  ship  by  pump 
ing  out  twenty-three  hundred  and  thirty-five  gallons 
of  water. 

The  wind  continued  light  and  baffling  throughout 
the  morning  and  afternoon,  and  at  1.53  P.  M.  the  Belvi 
dera  was  nearly  within  range  and  opened  fire,  which 
the  Constitution  returned  with  her  stern  chasers,  but 
as  the  shot  fell  short  the  frigates  soon  desisted.  Thus 
with  towing  and  kedging  the  afternoon  of  the  18th  was 
passed.  At  7  P.  M.  Captain  Hull  lowered  his  first  cutter, 
the  green  cutter  and  gig,  and  sent  them  ahead  to  tow, 
but  at  10.53  P.  M.  a  fresh  breeze  sprang  up  from  the 
south,  and  the  boats  were  run  up  to  their  places,  and 
the  fore  topmast  staysail  and  main  topgallant  studding 
sail  were  set.  This  gave  the  exhausted  crews  much- 
needed  rest.  No  one,  however,  thought  of  ' '  turning 
in,"  but  the  men  caught  snatches  of  sleep  whenever  it 
was  possible.  The  officers  did  not  once  leave  the  deck, 
and  when  relieved  they  threw  themselves  on  the  quar 
ter-deck,  sleeping  on  ropes,  sails  or  any  place  where 
sleep  was  possible.  All  the  men  slept  at  quarters.  At 


340 


THE   FIRST  NAVAL  EFFORTS  OF   1812. 


1812. 


midnight  it  again  fell  calm,  but  the  commanders  of  all 
the  ships  allowed  their  men  to  rest  until  2  A.  M.,  July 
19th,  when  towing  and  kedging  were  resumed  and  con 
tinued  until  daylight,  at  which  time  the  Belmdera, 
having  gained  a  position  off  the  lee  beam  of  the  Con- 


Hoisting  the  boats. 

stitution,  stood  about  to  close.  In  order  to  avoid  her 
Captain  Hull  tacked  likewise,  but  in  so  doing  he  was 
compelled  to  pass  within  gunshot  of  the  JEolus  on  the 
contrary  tack.  Much  to  the  surprise  of  alJ,  Captain 
Lord  James  Townshend,  late  of  the  Halifax,  did  not 
offer  to  exchange  broadsides,  and  allowed  the  Consti 
tution  to  pass  unmolested.  At  9  A.  M.  an  American 
merchantman  hove  in  sight,  and  in  hopes  of  decoying 
her  under  her  guns  the  Belmdera  hoisted  American 
colors.  To  counteract  this,  Captain  Hull  showed  Eng 
lish  flags,  which  induced  the  merchant  ship  to  make 


1812.  THE  CHASE  OF  THE  CONSTITUTION.  341 

all  sail  before  the  wind,  and  as  the  British  were  too  in 
tent  on  capturing  the  Constitution  to  detach  a  frigate, 
she  soon  disappeared  below  the  horizon. 

By  noon  the  wind  had  become  light  again,  and  it 
continued  so  throughout  the  afternoon.  All  this  time 
the  Constitution  kept  about  four  miles  ahead  of  the 
enemy' s  leading  ship,  the  Betmdera.  The  ships  were 
now  in  latitude  38°  47'  North  and  longitude  73°  53' 
West.  At  6.30  P.  M.  a  squall  of  wind  and  rain  was  seen 
approaching,  and  Captain  Hull,  still  being  to  wind 
ward,  determined  on  a  stratagem  by  which  he  hoped  to 
increase  his  lead.  Everything  was  kept  fast  until  just 
before  the  squall  struck  the  ship,  when,  in  an  incredi 
bly  short  time,  all  the  light  sails  were  furled,  a  double 
reef  was  put  in  the  mizzen  topsail,  and  every  precau 
tion  taken  to  make  snug  for  a  heav.y  blow.  Observing 
these  extreme  preparations,  the  English  commanders 
supposed,  as  Captain  Hull  intended,  that  a  squall  of 
unusual  violence  was  coming  down,  so,  without  wait 
ing  for  it  to  reach  them,  they  began  shortening  sail 
and  clewing  down,  and  bore  up  before  the  wind,  which 
headed  them  in  a  direction  opposite  to  that  which  the 
Constitution  was  taking.  The  squall,  as  Captain  Hull 
could  see,  was  light,  and  as  soon  as  the  rain  shut  in  his 
frigate  from  the  enemy's  view  he  made  sail  and  soon 
had  his  ship  bowling  along  with  a  stiff  breeze  at  eleven 
knots,  instead  of  having  her  on  her  beam  ends  as  his 
pursuers  supposed.  In  forty-five  minutes  the  squall 
had  blown  over,  when  the  British  squadron  was  seen 
so  far  to  leeward  as  to  relieve  the  Americans  of  imme 
diate  fear  of  capture,  but  the  enemy  with  commendable 
tenacity  persevered  in  the  chase  throughout  the  follow 
ing  night  and  until  half  past  eight  o'  clock  on  the  morn 
ing  of  the  20th,  when  they  gave  it  up  and  stood  about 
to  the  northeast. 

This  celebrated  chase  extended  over  three  nights 
and  two  days — or  sixty-six  hours  and  thirty  minutes — 
during  which  time  Captain  Hull  displayed  an  indomi- 


342  THE  FIRST  NAVAL  EFFORTS  OF  1812.  1812. 

table  perseverance  and  skillful  seamanship,  which  have 
justly  ranked  him  among  the  greatest  of  our  naval  com 
manders.  Nor  must  the  officers  and  men  who  so  gal 
lantly  supported  their  leader  during  all  these  trying 
hours  be  forgotten.  It  will  be  remembered  that  when 
the  Constitution  sailed  from  the  Chesapeake,  five  days 
before,  her  crew  had  assembled  on  her  deck  for  the 
first  time  ;  many  of  them  were  then,  for  the  first  time, 
in  a  vessel  of  war,  and  had  not  as  yet  been  thoroughly 
instructed  in  the  duties  or  accustomed  to  the  exact 
ing  discipline  of  a  man-of-war.  In  spite  of  this,  such 
coolness  and  order  were  maintained  during  the  chase 
that  not  a  single  boat  was  abandoned.  As  each  breeze 
struck  the  ship  every  boat  was  run  up  in  perfect  or 
der,  and  the  frigate  continued  her  headway  without 
checking  her  speed,  the  only  losses  being  a  few  spars 
and  the  twenty- three  hundred  and  thirty-five  gallons 
of  water.  "  The  launch  and  first  cutter,  which  we 
dared  not  lose,  were  hoisted  on  board  at  six  o'clock, 
under  the  direction  of  Captain  Hull,  with  so  little  loss 
of  time  or  change  of  sails  that  our  watching  enemies 
could  not  conceive  what  disposition  was  made  of  them. 
This  we  afterward  learned  from  Lieutenant  Crane,  who 
was  a  prisoner  in  their  squadron. "  l  Equal  praise  can 
not  be  awarded  to  the  British  commanders.  Although 
they  did  not  commit  conspicuous  errors,  and  perse 
vered  in  the  chase  with  praiseworthy  persistency,  yet, 
notwithstanding  the  fact  that  their  vessels  were  manned 
by  experienced  crews  (the  crew  of  the  /Shannon  having 
served  together  in  the  same  ship  and  under  the  same 
commander  upward  of  four  years),  they  not  only  cut 
adrift  many  boats  and  spent  much  time  in  picking 
them  up  after  the  chase,2  but  they  were  completely 
outmano3uvred.  So  confident  were  they  of  taking  the 
American  frigate,  that  Captain  Broke  had  selected  a 

1  Autobiography  of  Commodore  Morris. 

2  See  the  Shannon's  log. 


1812.  THE  CHASE  OF  THE   CONSTITUTION.  343 

prize  crew  from  " his  Shannons"  who  were  to  have  the 
honor  of  sailing  the  Constitution  to  Halifax.  Captain 
Broke  gives  the  following  account  of  this  chase  in  his 
journal:  "July  18.  At  dawn,  an  American  frigate 
within  four  miles  of  the  squadron.  Had  a  most  fa 
tiguing  and  anxious  chase,  both  towing  and  kedging, 
etc.,  as  opportunity  offered.  American  frigate  ex 
changed  a  few  shot  with  Belmdera,  carried  near  the 
enemy  by  a  partial  breeze.  Cut  our  boats  adrift,  but 
all  in  vain ;  the  Constitution  sailed  well  and  escaped." 
Captain  Byron,  of  the  Belmdera,  wrote,  "Nothing  can 
exceed  my  mortification  from  the  extraordinary  escape 
of  the  American  frigate."  The  Rev.  Dr.  Brighton,  in 
his  Memoirs  of  Sir  Philip  Broke,  says  :  "  The  vexation 
of  the  whole  British  squadron  may  be  inferred  from 
Admiral  King's  account  of  the  sharp  recriminations 
among  the  sailors.  The  commanders  of  the  little 
squadron  exchanged  their  explanations  in  the  Shan 
non's  cabin." 

After  running  the  British  squadron  out  of  sight  the 
Constitution  headed  northward,  and  on  the  following 
Sunday  put  into  Boston  for  a  fresh  supply  of  water. 
The  English  frigates  in  the  meantime  separated,  hoping 
that  by  thus  spreading  out  their  forces  they  would  be 
able  to  capture  the  Constitution  in  single  ship  action. 
The  Shannon  and  the  Guerriere,  falling  in  with  the 
Jamaica  fleet  for  which  Captain  Rodgers  at  that  time 
was  looking,  escorted  it  over  the  Newfoundland  Banks. 
The  Guerriere  then  put  into  Halifax  for  repairs,  while 
the  Shannon  returned  to  the  coast  of  the  United  States. 


CHAPTER  III. 

THE   FIRST   FEIGATE   ACTION. 

Anxious  to  meet  some  of  the  famous  British  frig 
ates  whose  commanders  had  indulged  in  contemptuous 
language  about  the  "  fir-built  Yankee  frigates  flying 
a  piece  of  striped  bunting  at  their  mast-heads,"  and 
fearing  that  the  timid  policy  of  the  Navy  Department 
might  detain  him  in  port,  Captain  Hull  sailed  from 
Boston  on  the  2d  of  August.  A  few  days  later  in 
structions  arrived  in  that  city  for  him  to  "remain  in 
port  until  further  orders" ;  and  "had  the  Constitution 
been  captured  on  this  cruise,"  remarked  Rear- Admi 
ral  Bell,  "  Hull  would  have  been  hanged  or  shot  for 
sailing  without  orders."  Reaching  the  Bay  of  Fundy 
without  taking  a  prize,  Captain  Hull  made  for  the  Gulf 
of  St.  Lawrence,  hoping  to  fall  in  with  the  English 
38-gun  frigate  Spartan,  Captain  Edward  Pelham,  or  to 
intercept  vessels  bound  for  Quebec  ;  but  as  he  had  lit 
tle  success  here  he  stood  out  to  sea.  On  the  morning 
of  the  15th  five  vessels  were  discovered.  Setting  all 
sail  the  Constitution  was  rapidly  nearing  them,  when, 
after  burning  a  brig,  the  strangers  scattered.  Select 
ing  the  largest  vessel,  Captain  Hull  soon  overhauled 
her,  and  found  that  she  was  an  English  merchant  ship 
in  the  hands  of  an  American  prize  crew.  It  was  fortu 
nate,  however,  that  the  frigate  hove  in  sight  when  she 
did,  for  the  prize  was  about  to  fall  into  the  hands  of  the 
British  ships  which  were  now  crowding  all  sail  to  lee 
ward.  Before  night  closed  in  the  Constitution  made 
sail  for  another  vessel,  coming  up  with  her  after  a 
sharp  chase.  She  proved  to  be  the  American  brig 

(344) 


1812.  THE  ENEMY  SIGHTED.  345 

Adeline,  in  the  hands  of  a  prize  crew  from  the  British 
sloop  of  war  Avenger.  By  this  time  the  two  remain 
ing  ships  had  disappeared.  Destroying  one  brig  and 
ordering  the  other  to  Boston  in  charge  of  Midshipman 
Madison  and  five  men,  Captain  Hull  headed  south 
ward,  intending  to  pass  near  Bermuda. 

About  half  past  nine  o'clock  on  the  night  of  August 
18th,  it  being  unusually  dark,  a  strange  vessel  ap 
proached  very  close  to  the  Constitution  before  it  was 
discovered.  Sail  was  promptly  made,  and  after  a 
hard  chase  of  two  hours  the  stranger  was  brought  to. 
On  sending  a  boat  aboard  it  was  found  that  she  was 
the  American  privateer  Decatur,  with  a  crew  of  one 
hundred  and  eight  men,  and  carrying  fourteen  guns, 
twelve  of  which  had  been  thrown  overboard  in  the 
chase,  as  the  privateersman  mistook  the  Constitution 
for  a  British  cruiser.  Learning  from  the  commander  of 
the  Decatur  that  an  English  frigate  had  been  seen  the 
day  before  steering  southward,  Captain  Hull  changed 
his  course  to  that  direction  in  hopes  of  coming  up  with 
her.  At  one  o'clock  on  the  following  afternoon,  Au 
gust  19th,  latitude  41°  42'  North,  longitude  55°  48' 
West,  a  sail  was  discovered  from  the  masthead,  and 
after  an  hour's  scrutiny  through  the  glass  she  was 
made  out  to  be  a  ship  on  the  starboard  tack,  close 
hauled  and  under  easy  canvas.  By  3.30  p.  M.  she  was 
seen  to  be  an  English  frigate,  which,  from  her  manoeu 
vres,  was  apparently  desirous  of  engaging,  for  as  soon 
as  she  discovered  the  Constitution  to  be  an  American 
frigate  she  shortened  her  topsails,  foresail,  jib  and 
spanker,  and  braced  her  main  topsail  to  the  mast,  wait 
ing  for  the  American  to  come  down.  Observing  this, 
Captain  Hull,  when  the  vessels  were  about  three  miles 
apart,  sent  down  his  royal  yards,  reefed  his  topsails 
and  hauled  up  the  courses.  The  ship  was  then  cleared 
for  action  and  the  crew  sent  to  quarters. 

American  frigates,  with  the  exception  of  the  Con 
stellation,  had  not  yet  been  opposed  to  those  of  rec- 

25 


346 


THE  FIRST   FRIGATE  ACTION. 


1812. 


ognized  naval  powers,  while  the  many  improvements 
which  our  officers  had  devised,  the  untiring  discipline 
of  their  crews,  and  the  drill  of  the  men  at  the  guns, 
with  their  many  ingenious  contrivances  about  the  ship, 
were  to  a  large  extent  innovations  in  naval  warfare, 


The  cruise  of  me  Constitution. 


with  their  efficacy  yet  to  be 
proved.  Now  that  the  Ameri 
can  frigate  for  the  first  time 
was  about  to  match  its  strength 
with  the  "Terror  of  the  World,"  as  Admiral  Duncan 
called  it,  the  American  tar  experienced  the  excite 
ment  which  is  attendant  upon  every  hazardous  un 
dertaking,  while  the  sense  of  self-distrust  which  great 
renown  always  instills  in  the  breast  of  the  inexperi 
enced  began  to  creep  over  him,  causing  him  to  won 
der  at  his  audacity  in  presuming  to  defy  the  venge 
ance  of  the  redoubtable  English  frigate.  But  at  the 
same  time  the  memories  of  repeated  insults  to  his  flag. 


1812.  OPENING  OF  THE  BATTLE.  347 

and  the  brutal  impressment  of  American  seamen  and 
the  bloody  lash,  came  to  his  mind  with  overwhelming 
force,  arousing  a  thirst  for  revenge  which  predom 
inated  over  every  other  emotion.  A  large  proportion 
of  the  Constitution's  crew  carried  the  scars  of  British 
lashes  on  their  backs,  while  nearly  all  of  them  had 
some  score  to  settle  with  England's  navy.  A  number 
of  the  American  sailors  were  descendants  of  men  who 
had  suffered  martyrdom  in  the  British  prison  ships 
anchored  at  Wale  Bogt  in  the  War  of  the  Revolution, 
and  the  thought  of  the  brutal  treatment  which  those 
patriots  suffered  did  not  lessen  the  desire  of  the  hardy 
tars  in  the  Constitution  to  meet  the  enemy.  Cap 
tain  Hull's  father,  Joseph  Hull,  died  in  the  pest  ship 
Jersey  from  the  effects  of  the  cruel  treatment  he  re 
ceived. 

At  ten  minutes  after  four  o'clock  in  the  afternoon  the 
English  frigate  hoisted  four  flags  and  tired  a  "few  guns 
at  the  Constitution,  more  with  a  view  to  try  the  dis 
tance  than  for  any  effectual  attack."1  At  4.20  P.  M. 
the  ships  exchanged  broadsides,2  but  being  at  a  great 
distance  the  shot  fell  short.  For  three  quarters  of  an 
hour  after  this  the  English  frigate  continued  wearing, 
so  as  to  get  a  raking  position,  but  finding  that  the 
Americans  would  not  allow  this,  she  laid  her  main 
topsail  to  the  mast,  afterward  bearing  up  and  run 
ning  with  the  wind  on  the  quarter  under  topsails  and 
jib.  Captain  Hull,  observing  this  indication  that  the 
enemy  was  willing  to  engage  in  a  yardarm  and  yard- 
arm  fight,  made  sail  to  bring  up  with  her,  and  at  5.20 
p.  M.  he  had  his  colors  flying,  a  jack  at  each  mast 
head  and  one  at  the  mizzen  peak.  The  antagonists 
now  warily  approached  each  other.  "To  avoid  being 
raked,"  says  James,  "the  English  ship  wore  three  or 
four  times  and  continued  discharging  her  alternate 

1  Brenton's  History  of  the  English  Navy,  vol.  ii,  p.  453. 

2  Official  report  of  the  English  commander. 


348  THE  FIRST  FRIGATE  ACTION.  1812. 

broadsides,  with  about  as  little  effect,  owing  to  her 
constant  change  of  position  and  the  necessary  altera 
tion  in  the  level  of  her  guns,  as  when  her  shot  fell 
short."  For  the  same  reason  the  firing  of  the  Consti 
tution  was  ineffectual.  James  says  the  Constitution, 
"at  about  5  h.  45  m.  p.  M.,  brought  the  English  frigate 
to  close  action,"  which  coincides  with  the  statements 
given  by  Captain  Hull  in  his  official  report.  It  is  neces 
sary  to  be  thus  minute  in  determining  the  time  when 
this  action  began  for  reasons  which  will  appear  here 
after.  It  will  be  noticed  that  the  English  authority 
just  quoted  has  said  that  the  vessels  came  to  "close 
action"  about  5.45  P.  M.,  and  that  the  half  hour  im 
mediately  before  that  time  was  employed  by  the  Eng 
lish  frigate  in  "  wearing  three  or  four  times,"  and  that 
her  fire  during  this  wearing  was  "with  about  as  little 
effect  ...  as  when  her  shot  fell  short."  As  the  Con 
stitution  had  to  wear  precisely  when  the  enemy  did,  in 
order  to  avoid  being  raked,  it  is  also  true  that  her  fir 
ing  was  with  as  little  effect  as  "  when  her  shot  fell 
short."  This,  then,  establishes  the  beginning  of  the 
action  at  "  about  5  h.  45  m.  p.  M." 

"As  their  manoeuvres  prolonged   our  separation, 
Captain  Hull,  at  six  o'clock,  directed  the  ship  to  be 


Diagram  of  the  battle. 

steered  directly  for  the  enemy,  and  the  main  topgal 
lant  sail  to  be  set.     The  enemy  now  bore  up  gradually 


1812.  HULL  RESERVES  HIS  FIRE.  349 

to  nearly  the  same  course  as  ourselves  before  the  wind, 
but  with  our  greater  quantity  of  canvas  we  speedily 
closed  upon  his  port  quarter  and  passed  to  his  beam, 
at  about  two  hundred  yards'  distance,  gradually  ap 
proaching  still  nearer."  *  Seeing  that  the  ships  were 
about  to  enter  upon  an  action  at  close  quarters,  Cap 
tain  Hull  ordered  the  men  to  cease  firing,  so  as  to  make 
every  preparation  to  have  their  next  broadside  deliv 
ered  with  full  effect.  The  guns  were  carefully  reload 
ed  with  round  shot  and  grape  and  deliberately  trained 
upon  the  British  ship.  Having  completed  all  these  ar 
rangements,  the  men  stood  silently  beside  their  guns 
waiting  for  the  order  to  fire.  The  frigates  were  now 
only  a  short  distance  apart,  and  the  English  officers 
could  be  distinctly  seen  through  their  ports  searching 
the  Constitution  with  glasses  or  moving  about  the  ship 
encouraging  their  gun  crews,  while  frequent  cheers 
were  wafted  across  the  water  to  the  ears  of  the  Ameri 
cans.  The  Englishmen  maintained  their  fire  with 
much  earnestness,  but  as  yet  no  order  had  come  from 
the  quarter-deck  of  the  American  frigate,  and  perfect 
quiet  prevailed  along  her  decks  as  the  men  stood  by 
their  guns,  nearly  all  of  them  barefooted  and  many 
stripped  to  the  waist,  ever  and  anon  casting  inquiring 
glances  at  their  officers.  At  this  moment  a  shot  struck 
the  Constitution's  bulwarks,  and  threw  innumerable 
splinters  over  the  first  division  of  the  gun  deck,  wound 
ing  several  men.  Observing  the  effect  of  this  shot,  the 
Englishmen  gave  three  cheers  ;  but  still  the  American 
frigate  remained  silent.  First-Lieutenant  Morris  now 
approached  the  quarter-deck,  where  Captain  Hull  was 
coolly  pacing  back  and  forth,  and  said:  "  The  enemy 
has  opened  fire  and  killed  two  of  our  men.  Shall  we 
return  it  1 "  "  Not  yet,  sir,"  was  the  response  from  the 
quarter-deck,  and  the  men  saw  their  mutilated  ship 
mates  hurried  below  to  the  surgeon's  table,  while  they 

1  Autobiography  of  Commodore  Morris. 


350  THE  FIRST  FRIGATE  ACTION.  1812. 

stood  silently  at  their  guns  in  momentary  expectation 
of  meeting  a  similar  fate.  Nothing  but  the  perfect 
discipline  in  the  American  frigate  restrained  the  im 
patience  of  the  gun  crews  and  prevented  them  from 
returning  the  Englishman's  cannonading.  Three  times 
Lieutenant  Morris  asked  if  he  could  open  fire,  and 
three  times  he  was  answered  with  a  calm  "  Not  yet, 
sir."  But  at  last,  having  gained  a  position  about  forty 
yards  off  the  enemy's  port  quarter,  Captain  Hull  gave 
the  order  to  fire  as  the  guns  bore.  In  an  instant  the 
frigate  belched  forth  a  storm  of  iron  hail  that  carried 
death  and  destruction  into  the  opposing  ship.  The 
effect  of  this  carefully  aimed  broadside  at  short  range 
was  terrific.  The  splinters  were  seen  to  fly  over  the 
British  frigate  like  a  cloud,  some  of  them  reaching  as 
high  as  the  mizzen  top,  while  the  cheers  of  her  men 
abruptly  ceased,  and  the  shrieks  and  groans  of  the 
wounded  were  heard.  The  Americans  had  struck  their 
first  earnest  blow,  and  it  was  a  staggering  one.  The 
Englishmen  felt  its  full  weight,  and  perhaps  for  the 
first  time  realized  that  this  was  no  child's  play. 

So  rapid  and  accurate  were  the  American  gunners, 
that  at  6.10  P.  M.  the  enemy's  main  yard  was  shot  away 
in  the  slings,  and  his  hull,  rigging  and  sails  were  badly 
cut,  while  the  Constitution  had  sustained  no  serious 
damage.  At  this  moment  a  24-pound  shot  passed 
through  the  Englishman's  mizzenmast  a  few  feet  above 
the  deck.  The  pressure  of  the  sails  brought  it  down 
with  a  crash,  and  falling  over  the  quarter  it  dragged  in 
the  water,  "knocking  a  large  hole  under  her  starboard 
counter." 1  The  wreck  acted  on  the  ship  like  a  rudder, 
bringing  her  up  to  the  wind  in  spite  of  her  helm,  and 
the  Constitution  put  her  helm  hard  to  port  so  as  to 
rake,  but  the  loss  of  braces,  with  the  injuries  to  the 
spanker  and  mizzen  topsails,  prevented  her  from  fall 
ing  off  as  quickly  as  was  desired.  Nevertheless  the 

1  The  British  commander  at  his  court-martial. 


1812.  BOARDERS  CALLED.  351 

Americans  were  able  to  get  in  two  raking  broadsides.  At 
6.15  P.  M.  the  jib  boom  of  the  English  frigate  passed  over 
the  Constitutions  quarter- deck,  where  Fifth-Lieutenant 
John  Templer  Shubrick  was  commanding  the  guns. 

There  was  a  lull  in  the  uproar  now  as  each  ship' s 
company  paused  to  see  whether  the  other  would  board. 
The  British  commander  said:  "It  was  my  intention, 
after  preventing  the  enemy  from  boarding  to  have 
boarded  in  return,  and  in  consequence  I  ordered  down 
the  first  lieutenant  to  the  main  deck  to  send  up  every 
body  from  the  guns,  but  finding  the  deck  of  the  Ameri 
can  frigate  filled  with  men  and  every  preparation  to 
receive  us,  it  would  have  been  almost  impossible  for  us 
to  succeed."1  When  the  crews  rushed  up  on  deck  to 
board  or  repel  boarders,  they  exposed  themselves  to  the 
riflemen  at  short  range,  and  the  topmen  in  both  ships 
soon  renewed  their  sharp  rattling  fire  with  twofold 
energy.  The  frigates  were  now  so  close  together  that 
the  enemy's  cutwater  chafed  against  the  Constitutions 
side,  and  the  white  and  gold  figurehead  of  the  English 
ship  was  within  easy  reach  of  the  hand,  while  the  bow 
sprit  extended  entirely  across  the  quarter-deck,  rising 
and  falling  with  the  motion  of  the  waves  over  the 
heads  of  the  Americans.  As  this  spar  afforded  a  con 
venient  passage  for  boarding,  it  was  feared  that  the 
English  might  make  such  an  attempt,  and  Lieutenant 
Morris  climbed  up  the  taifrail  to  see  if  they  were  mass 
ing  their  forces.  The  British  commander  was  discov 
ered  collecting  his  men  on  the  forecastle,  and  he  could 
be  heard  instructing  his  crew  how  to  board.  Lieu 
tenant  Morris  reported  this  to  Captain  Hull,  and  the 
American  seamen  and  marines,  armed  with  cutlasses, 
boarding-pikes,  pistols  and  muskets,  were  soon  drawn 
up  on  the  Constitutions  quarter-deck,  waiting  for  the 
first  Englishman  to  show  his  head  over  the  forecastle 
bulwarks. 

1  The  British  commander  at  his  court-martial. 


352  THE  FIRST  FRIGATE  ACTION.  1812. 

At  this  stage  of  the  action  both  sides  suffered  a 
serious  loss  of  officers.  With  a  view  of  lashing  the  two 
ships  together,  Lieutenant  Morris  seized  a  rope  dan 
gling  from  the  Englishman's  bowsprit,  and,  climbing  up, 
passed  a  few  turns  of  the  main  brace  around  that  spar, 
but  at  this  moment  a  bullet  from  a  sharpshooter  in  the 
enemy's  tops  passed  through  his  body.  He  fell  to  the 
quarter-deck,  badly  stunned,  but  he  regained  conscious 
ness  in  a  few  minutes  and  returned  to  his  post.  When 
it  was  seen  that  the  vessels  would  foul,  WTilliam  S. 
Bush,  the  first  lieutenant  of  the  marines,  and  John  C. 
Alwyn,  master,  ran  to  the  taffrail  with  their  men  and 
stood  in  readiness  to  board  the  enemy.  A  ball  from 
the  Englishman's  maintop  wounded  Mr.  Alwyn  in  the 
shoulder,  and  when  Mr.  Bush  had  mounted  the  taffrail 
and  was  calling  out,  "Shall  I  board  her?"  a  shot 
crashed  through  his  skull,  killing  him  instantly.  Mr. 
Bush  was  the  son  of  Captain  John  Bush,  who  served 
with  distinction  in  the  American  Revolution,  and  he 
was  also  a  nephew  of  Major  Lewis  Bush,  who  fell  at  the 
battle  of  Brandy  wine.  Captain  Hull  at  this  moment 
stepped  upon  an  arms  chest  to  mount  the  taffrail  and 
lead  the  boarders,  but  he  was  dragged  back  by  a  sea 
man,  who  begged  that  he  would  not  get  up  on  the  taff 
rail  unless  he  took  off  those  u  swabs,"  referring  to  his 
epaulets.  So  close  together  were  the  two  ships  at  this 
moment,  that  an  American  sailor,  having  discharged 
his  boarding,  pistol  and  missed  his  aim,  threw  the 
weapon  itself  and  struck  an  English  sailor  on  the  chest. 
About  this  time  the  American  flag  at  the  main  topgal 
lant  masthead  was  carried  away,  when  a  young  sailor 
by  the  name  of  John  Hogan  ascended  the  rigging  and 
lashed  the  colors  to  the  mast,  for  which  act  he  was 
pensioned.  The  British  commander,  while  standing  on 
the  starboard  forecastle  hammocks,  encouraging  his 
men  by  his  example,  was  shot  in  the  back  by  one  of 
the  American  sharpshooters,  and  had  the  ball  passed 
half  an  inch  more  to  the  left  the  wound  would  have 


THE  CONSTITUTION  ON  FIRE.  353 

proved  fatal.  Another  ball  struck  the  British  master 
in  the  knee,  and  his  mate,  shortly  afterward,  was  also 
wounded.  There  were  seven  marines  in  each  of  the 
Constitution's  tops,  six  loading  while  the  seventh,  the 
best  marksman,  fired. 

The  rolling  of  the  ships,  however,  prevented  either 
party  from  boarding.  In  her  present  position  the  Brit 
ish  ship  could  not  bring  a  single  broadside  gun  to 
bear,  and,  as  she  was  exposed  to  a  dreadful  raking  fire 
from  the  Constitution,  she  must  soon  have  been  de 
stroyed.  At  this  crisis  the  vessels  fell  apart,  and  the 
English  ship,  disengaging  her  bowsprit  from  the  Consti 
tution's  rigging,  paid  off  a  little,  and  was  enabled  to 
bring  her  broadside  into  play.  Some  of  the  burning 
wads  from  her  guns  were  blown  into  the  Constitution's 
after  cabin,  and  for  a  moment  the  ship  was  in  danger 
of  destruction  by  fire  ;  but  Fourth- Lieutenant  Hoff 
man,  who  commanded  in  that  division,  succeeded  in 
extinguishing  the  flames  before  serious  damage  was 
sustained.  In  dropping  astern,  at  6.22  P.  M.,  the  ene 
my's  bowsprit,  striking  the  taffrail  of  the  Constitution, 
slackened  the  forestays  of  the  English  ship,  and  as  the 
latter's  fore  shrouds  on  the  port  side  had  already  been 
cut  away,  tbe  foremast  went  by  the  starboard  side, 
crossing  the  main  stays.  The  sudden  wrench  thus 
given  to  the  mainmast,  already  much  weakened  by  the 
loss  of  shrouds  and  .stays,  carried  it  along  with  the 
foremast,  and  this  enormous  weight  of  masts,  yards 
and  rigging  came  down  with  a  crash  that  for  a  moment 
drowned  the  roar  of  battle,  leaving  the  enemy  totally 
dismasted.  She  quickly  fell  into  the  trough  of  the 
sea,  "a  perfect  wreck,"1  and  at  each  wave  rolled  the 
" main-deck  guns  in  the  water."2 

Seeing  that  the  enemy  was  incapable  of  making  fur 
ther  resistance,  Captain  Hull,  "about  6.23," 3  prudently 

1  The  English  commander  at  his  court-martial. 

2  Brenton's  History  of  the  English  Navy,  vol.  ii,  p.  51. 
8  James'  History  of  the  British  Navy,  vol.  v,  p.  379. 


354:  THE  FIRST  FRIGATE  ACTION.  "  1812 

drew  off  to  repair  damages,  for  at  any  moment  another 
British  frigate  or  squadron  might  appear  and  make  an 
easy  capture  of  the  Constitution  while  she  was  injured 
in  her  rigging.  About  seven  o'clock  she  returned,  and 
Third-Lieutenant  George  Campbell  Head  was  sent 
aboard  to  take  possession.  At  8  p.  M.  he  returned 
with  Captain  (afterward  Rear- Admiral  of  the  Red) 
James  Richard  Dacres  of  the  38-gun  frigate  Guerriere, 
one  of  the  squadron  that  shortly  before  had  chased  the 
Constitution.  This  frigate,  like  several  others  of  Cap 
tain  Broke's  squadron,  had  separated  after  the  Consti 
tution's  extraordinary  escape,  in  hopes  of  capturing 
her  in  single  combat.  Captain  Dacres  was  a  son  of 
Lieutenant  James  Richard  Dacres  (afterward  Yice- Ad 
miral  of  the  Red),  who  commanded  the  Carleton,  one 
of  the  British  vessels  in  the  action  with  the  American 
flotilla  on  Lake  Champlain  in  1776. 

Some  idea  of  the  great  humiliation  which  the  Brit 
ish  commander  felt  at  being  captured  by  the  much- 
ridiculed  American  frigate  will  be  gained  from  the  con 
versation  that  took  place  when  Lieutenant  Read  came 
alongside  of  the  English  frigate  to  receive  her  sur 
render.  The  American  boat  pulled  under  the  Guer- 
riere's  quarter,  and  Captain  Dacres,  in  response  to  the 
inquiry  if  he  had  struck,  answered  evasively,  "  I  don't 
know  that  it  would  be  prudent  to  continue  the  engage 
ment  any  longer." 

"Do  I  understand  you  to  say  that  you  have 
struck  ?  "  asked  Lieutenant  Read. 

"Not  precisely,"  returned  Dacres,  "but  I  don't 
know  that  it  will  be  worth  while  to  fight  any  longer." 

"  If  you  can  not  decide,  I  will  return  aboard  my 
ship  and  we  will  resume  the  engagement,"  said  the 
American  officer. 

To  this  Captain  Dacres  called  out  somewhat  ex 
citedly :  "Why,  I  am  pretty  much  Tiors  de  combat 
already.  I  have  hardly  men  enough  left  to  work  a 
single  gun,  and  my  ship  is  in  a  sinking  condition." 


1812.  REPAIRING  DAMAGES.  355 

"  I  wish  to  know,  sir,"  peremptorily  demanded 
Lieutenant  Eead,  ''whether  I  am  to  consider  you  as  a 
prisoner  of  war  or  an  enemy.  I  have  no  time  for  fur 
ther  parley." 

Captain  Dacres  replied  with  evident  reluctance  :  "  I 
believe  now  there  is  no  alternative.  If  I  could  fight 
longer  I — I — I — I — would  with  pleasure  ;  but — but— 
I — must — surrender. " 

Captain  Hull  and  Captain  Dacres,  like  several  of  the 
American  and  British  officers  who  met  in  battle  in  the 
course  of  this  war,  had  frequently  interchanged  visits 
before  hostilities  were  begun,  and  it  seems  that  on  one 
occasion  Captain  Dacres  made  a  wager  of  a  hat  with 
Captain  Hull  on  the  outcome  of  a  possible  meeting  be 
tween  their  respective  frigates.  When  the  command 
er  of  the  Guerriere  came  up  the  side  of  the  Constitu 
tion  on  a  rope  ladder  to  surrender  his  sword,  Captain 
Hull  assisted  him,  saying:  "Dacres,  give  me  your 
hand.  I  know  you  are  hurt."  When  the  English 
commander  offered  his  sword,  Captain  Hull  replied : 
"No,  no,  I  will  not  take  a  sword  from  one  who  knows 
so  well  how  to  use  it  ;  but  I'll  trouble  you  for  that 
hat."  Learning  of  the  great  slaughter  in  the  British 
ship,  Captain  Hull  promptly  sent  his  surgeon's  mate 
aboard  the  prize  to  assist  in  tending  the  wounded.  "I 
feel  it  my  duty  to  state  that  the  conduct  of  Captain 
Hull  and  his  officers  to  our  men  has  been  that  of  a 
brave  enemy,  the  greatest  care  being  taken  to  prevent 
our  men  losing  the  smallest  trifle,  and  the  greatest  at 
tention  being  paid  to  the  wounded."1 

During  the  night  boats  were  busy  removing  prison 
ers.  At  2.20  A.  M.  a  suspicious  sail  appeared  off  the 
port  beam,  steering  south.  The  Constitution  immedi 
ately  cleared  for  action,  and,  owing  to  the  precautions 
of  her  commander,  was  ready  for  another  battle  ;  but  at 
three  o'clock  the  stranger  stood  off  and  soon  afterward 
disappeared.  At  daylight  the  officers  in  charge  of  the 

1  Official  report  of  Captain  Dacres. 


356  THE  FIRST  FRIGATE  ACTION.  1812. 

Guerriere  hailed  to  say  that  she  had  four  feet  of  water 
in  the  hold,  and  that  she  was  in  momentary  danger  of 
sinking.  All  hands  were  then  employed  in  transfer 
ring  the  remaining  prisoners  and  wonnded,  and  at  3.15 
p.  M.,  August  21st,  the  prize,  being  too  shattered  to  be 
brought  into  port,  was  blown  up. 

We  have  already  seen  that  American  and  English 
writers  agree  that  this  action  began  at  "about  5 h.  45  m. 
p.  M."  Captain  Hull  says  that  at  5.55  P.  M.  he  was 
within  "  half  pistol  shot"  of  the  Guerriere.^  There  can 
be  no  doubt,  then,  that  ten  minutes  before  this,  or  at 
5.45  P.  M.,  the  frigates  were  getting  into  effective  range. 
The  authorities  on  both  sides  nearly  coincide  also  as 
to  the  time  the  action  closed.  James  says  the  Guer 
riere  became  totally  dismasted,  or,  to  use  the  words  of 
her  commander,  a  "perfect  wreck,"  at  6.23  p.  M., 
while  Captain  Hull  puts  it  at  6.25  P.  M.  Whether  the 
Guerriere  at  6.23  p.  M.  or  6.25  P.  M.  actually  went 
through  the  formality  of  surrendering,  is  a  point  in 
dispute.  By  the  account  of  an  officer  in  the  Constitu 
tion,  the  Guerriere,  at  6.25  p.  M.,  "fired  a  gun  to  lee 
ward  as  a  signal  of  submission."2  On  the  other  side 
it  is  affirmed  that  the  Constitution,  at  "6.45  P.M., 
having  rove  new  braces,  wore  round  and  took  a  posi 
tion  within  pistol  shot  on  her  starboard  quarter.  It 
being  utterly  in  vain  to  contend  any  longer,  the  Guer 
riere  fired  a  lee  gun  and  hauled  down  the  Union  jack 
from  the  stump  of  her  mizzenmast."3  It  is  immaterial 
when  the  Guerriere  "fired  a  lee  gun,"  "hauled  down 
the  Union  jack  from  the  stump  of  her  mizzenmast,"  or 
went  through  any  other  form  of  surrendering.  She 
was  beaten  at  6.25  P.  M.,  as  all  accounts  agree  that 
from  this  time  she  made  no  further  resistance.  If  at 
"  6  h.  45  m.  P.  M.,"  when  the  English  had  been  unmolest 
ed  for  twenty  minutes,  which  they  had  improved  by 

1  Official  report  of  Captain  Hull. 

3  Autobiography  of  Commodore  Morris. 

3  James'  History  of  the  British  Navy,  vol.  v,  p.  879. 


1812.  COMPARATIVE   FORCES.  357 

clearing  the  ship  and  making  ready  for  further  action 
—if  after  this  preparation  they  found  it  "utterly  in 
vain  to  contend  any  longer,"  what  could  they  have 
done  at  6.25  P.  M.,  before  they  had  cleared  away  the 
wreck  that  covered  their  guns  ?  It  is  not  improbable 
that  some  British  seaman,  seeing  the  Constitution  out 
of  gunshot  engaged  in  making  repairs,  did,  out  of  a 
spirit  of  bravado,  tack  an  ensign  on  the  stump  of  the 
mizzenmast,  hoping  that  that  harmless  act  might  be 
construed  as  heroic,  and  that  he  could,  in  due  time, 
claim  a  substantial  recognition  of  it.  But  when  the 
Constitution  returned,  all  thought  of  fighting  seems  to 
have  vanished,  for  not  a  gun  or  musket  was  fired,  nor 
was  resistance  of  any  kind  made  after  6.25  p.  M.  This, 
then,  establishes  the  duration  of  this  battle,  as  being, 
on  the  best  American  and  English  authorities,  from 
the  time  the  firing  became  effective,  5.45  P.  M.,  to  the 
time  the  Constitution  left  the  Guerriere,  6.25  P.  M.,  at 
forty  minutes. 

The  Constitution  was  twelve  to  fifteen  feet  longer 
than  the  Guerriere,  and  had  a  trifle  more  beam.  The 
former  carried  thirty  long  24  pounders,  t\venty-four 
short  32-pounders,  and  one  long  18-pounder,  making  a 
total  of  fifty-five  guns.  Her  crew  numbered  four  hun 
dred  and  sixty-eight  all  told.  The  Guerriere  was  cap 
tured  from  the  French,  off  Faroe  Islands,  by  the  Brit 
ish  frigate  BlancJie,  Captain  Lavie,  on  the  19th  of 
July,  1806,  and,  says  Captain  Lavie,  in  his  official  re 
port  of  her  capture,  u  she  was  of  the  largest  class  of 
frigates,  mounting  fifty  guns."  At  the  time  of  her 
action  with  the  Constitution  she  mounted,  according 
to  James'  account,  thirty- two  long  18-pounders,  six 
teen  short  32-pounders,  and  one  short  18-pounder,  in 
all  forty-nine  guns,  while  her  crew  was  placed  at  two 
hundred  and  sixty-three,  all  told  ;  although  Hughes, 
in  his  History  of  England,  places  the  Guerriere's  crew 
at  three  hundred.1  Deducting  seven  per  cent  for  un- 

1  Vol.  xiv,  p.  18. 


358  THE  FIRST  FRIGATE  ACTION.  1812. 

derweight  in  American  shot,  we  find  that  the  Consti 
tution  carried  seven  hundred  pounds  to  the  broadside, 
and  adding  eight  per  cent  to  the  weight  of  the  Guer- 
riere's  French  shot  we  have  a  total  of  five  hundred 
and  ninety-seven  English  pounds  to  the  broadside,  or 
only  one  hundred  and  three  pounds  to  a  broadside 
less  than  the  Constitution. 

In  this  short  action  the  Constitution  lost  her  first- 
lieutenant  of  marines,  William  Sharp  Bush,  and  six 
seamen  killed  ;  and  her  first  lieutenant,  Charles  Morris, 
her  sailing-master,  four  seamen  and  one  marine  were 
wounded.1  The  Guerriere  lost  her  second  lieutenant, 
Henry  Ready,  and  fourteen  seamen  killed ;  and  Cap 
tain  Dacres,  First-Lieutenant  Bartholomew  Kent,  Rob 
ert  Scott,  the  sailing-master,  two  master's  mates,  one 
midshipman  and  fifty-seven  sailors  were  wounded,  six 
of  the  wounded  afterward  dying.2 

Comparative  force  and  loss. 

Guns.         Lbs.         Crew.    Killed.  Wounded.  Total. 

Constitution:    55        700         468         7  7        14    >      Time 


Guerriere:         49        597         263       15         63        78    f      40m. 

The  attempt  made  by  some  English  writers  to  show 
that  the  Guerriere  was  "an  old,  worn-out  frigate," 
"looking  like  a  second-hand  jaunting-car,  very  fair 
without  but  most  rickety  and  rotten  within,"  is  com 
pletely  frustrated  by  Captain  Dacres  himself,  who, 
according  to  the  best  of  English  authorities,  expressed 
the  following  opinion  of  his  ship  a  few  months  before 
she  was  captured  by  the  Constitution :  '  *  Some  time 
before  this  action  [the  Chesapeake  and  the  Shannon, 
June  1,  1813]  the  Guerriere  was  cruising  in  company 
with  the  Shannon,  Captain  Philip  Bowes  Yere  Broke, 
and  the  commanders  and  their  friends,  after  dining 
together  as  usual,  were  pacing  the  Shannon's  quarter 
deck,  when  Captain  Dacres  drew  attention  to  his  ship, 

1  Official  report  of  Captain  Hull. 

2  Official  report  of  Captain  Dacres. 


1812.  THE   GUERRIBRE  IN  GOOD  CONDITION.  359 

the  Guerriere,  which,  at  that  moment  was  just  off  their 
weather  bow,  bowling  along  in  gallant  style  under  easy 
canvas. 

"'Well,  commodore,'  said  Dacres,  '  what  do  you 
think  of  the  Guerriere  now  \ ' 

"  'H'm,'  replied  Broke,  surveying  her  thoughtfully 
alowr  and  aloft,  4I  think  she  looks  very  handsome.' 

"'Is  that  all?'  asked' Dacres.  'I  say  she  looks 
beautiful ;  and  more,  she'd  take  an  antagonist  in  half 
the  time  the  Shannon  could.'"1  The  Shannon  was 
described  by  British  writers  at  that  time  as  "  a  very 
fine  frigate  of  thirty-eight  guns"  ;  while  a  former  mess 
mate  of  Captain  Broke,  on  hearing  of  his  appointment 
to  this  frigate,  wrote,  "We  hear  your  new  ship  is  a 
very  fine  craft."  On  the  9th  of  October,  1812,  before 
the  question  of  the  Guerriere's  condition  had  been 
brought  up,  the  St.  Christopher's  Gazette,  of  the  West 
Indies,  said  that  "  the  Guerriere  is  as  fine  a  frigate  as 
we  can  boast  of." 

The  small  superiority  of  the  Constitution  in  weight 
of  metal  by  no  means  accounts  for  the  extraordinary 
difference  in  the  amount  of  damage  sustained  by  the 
two  ships.  The  hull  of  the  American  frigate  was 
scarcely  touched,  her  injuries  being  confined  chiefly  to 
the  rigging.  All  her  braces,  much  of  the  standing  rig 
ging  and  a  few  spars  were  carried  away.  After  apply 
ing  stoppers  and  splicing  her  ropes,  she  was  ready  to 
engage  another  frigate  eight  hours  after  the  action. 
The  Guerriere,  on  the  other  hand,  was  utterly  demol 
ished  in  the  incredibly  short  time  of  forty  minutes. 
Captain  Dacres  says  that  "on  the  larboard  [port]  side 
about  thirty  shot  had  taken  effect  about  five  sheets  of 
copper  down  [that  is,  below  the  water  line],  and  she 
was  so  completely  shattered  that  the  enemy  found  it 
impossible  to  refit  her  sufficiently  to  attempt  carrying 
her  into  port."  In  the  forty  minutes  of  this  action 

1  Brighton's  Memoirs  of  Sir  Philip  Broke,  p.  139. 


360  THE  FIRST  FRIGATE  ACTION.  1812. 

the  Constitution  expended  twenty -three  hundred  and 
seventy-six  pounds  of  powder  and  fired  nine  hundred 
and  forty  shot,  or  at  the  rate  of  twenty-three  shot  a 
minute.  Of  the  number  of  shot  fired  five  hundred  and 
sixty  were  24-  and  82-pound  round  shot,  while  the 
rest  were  stands  of  24-  and  32-pound  grape  and 
canister. 

While  these  exciting  scenes  were  taking  place  at 
sea,  American  arms  had  suffered  overwhelming  disas 
ters  on  land.  General  William  Hull,  an  uncle  of  Cap 
tain  Isaac  Hull,  had  surrendered  Detroit  with  the 
entire  American  force  there,  and  all  his  stores  and  the 
vast  territory  of  Michigan,  without  striking  a  blow  in 
their  defense.  In  remarkable  contrast  to  the  navy,  the 
army  had  set  out  with  every  prospect  of  a  brilliant 
campaign.  By  this  ignominious  surrender  the  British 
obtained  a  tract  of  territory  which  they  hoped  to  ex 
tend  to  the  mouth  of  the  Mississippi,  intending  to  cut 
the  United  States  ofi0  from  the  West.  General  Hull 
was  tried  by  court-martial  under  the  charges  of  trea 
son,  cowardice  and  conduct  unbecoming  an  officer,  and 
being  found  guilty  of  the  last  two,  he  was  sentenced  to 
be  shot ;  but,  in  consideration  of  his  services  during  the 
Revolution,  the  President  remitted  the  sentence.  This 
disaster  was  soon  followed  by  the  surrender  of  Fort 
Dearborn  (on  the  site  of  Chicago),  and  its  garrison  im 
mediately  afterward  was  massacred  by  the  Indian  allies 
of  the  British.  News  of  defeat  came  in  from  all  sides. 
British  armies  had  crossed  the  frontier  and  were  driv 
ing  the  discouraged  Americans  before  them.  The  ears 
of  our  patriotic  forefathers  grew  accustomed  to  reports 
of  losses,  while  every  courier  that  arrived  was  looked 
upon  with  foreboding  as  the  bearer  of  more  evil 
tidings. 

And  what  was  to  be  expected  from  the  little  navy 
when  matching  its  puny  strength  against  the  victor  of 
a  hundred  battles?  Had  not  late  experience  taught 
Americans  the  folly  of  placing  confidence  in  that  feeble 


1812.  REJOICING  OVER  THE  VICTORY. 

branch,  of  the  service  ?  Their  best  effort  in  this  direc 
tion  had  failed  of  its  object ;  the  Nautilus  was  cap 
tured,  and  the  Constitution  had  just  escaped  the 
clutches  of  Captain  Broke's  squadron  by  a  miracleo 
The  only  relief  to  this  dismal  background  was  the  soli 
tary  success  of  the  frigate  Essex,  mounting  forty- six 
guns,  over  the  sloop  Alert,  carrying  eighteen. 

Such  was  the  despondency  that  prevailed  over  the 
United  States,  when,  on  the  30th  of  August,  the  Consti 
tution,  gayly  bedecked  with  flags,  appeared  off  Boston 
Lighthouse,  and,  amid  the  booming  of  cannon,  proudly 
passed  up  the  harbor  to  tell  the  story  of  the  first  frigate 
action  of  the  war.  The  joy  that  followed  this  first  sun 
shine  of  victory  after  so  many  gloomy  defeats  was  un 
bounded,  and  as  the  triumph  came  from  a  quarter 
where  success  was  least  expected,  it  raised  the  exulta 
tion  of  the  people  to  a  pitch  which  we,  at  this  day  and 
in  our  strength,  can  hardly  understand.  A  banquet, 
over  which  John  Adams  presided,  was  given  to  Captain 
Hull  and  to  the  officers  of  the  Constitution  at  Faneuil 
Hall.  Congress  voted  fifty  thousand  dollars  to  the 
officers  and  seamen  of  the  Constitution,  a  gold  medal 
to  Captain  Hull,  and  one  of  silver  to  his  officers.  Lieu 
tenant  Charles  Morris  was  the  recipient  of  a  handsome 
piece  of  plate ;  the  citizens  of  Portland  presented  a 
sword  to  Lieutenant  Alexander  Scammel  Wadsworth  ; 
while  swords  were  also  given  to  Midshipmen  Charles 
Morgan  and  Taylor  by  the  Legislature  of  Virginia. 
The  colors  of  the  Guerriere  are  preserved  in  the  Naval 
Institute  Building  at  Annapolis. 

In  his  History  of  the  English  Navy  1  Captain  Bren- 
ton  says  :  "  It  is  pleasing  to  add  that,  since  Captain  Da- 
cres  has  been  at  Malta  in  command  of  the  Edinburgh, 
he  has  had  the  satisfaction  of  meeting  with  and  show 
ing  attention  to  Commodore  Hull  and  his  amiable  con 
sort,  who  visited  that  island  very  lately.  Perhaps 

1  Vol.  ii,  p.  457. 


362  THE  FIRST   FRIGATE  ACTION.  1812. 

there  are  few  pleasures  greater  to  a  noble  mind  than 
meeting  in  peace  those  against  whom  we  have  honor 
ably  contended  in  war.  Dacres  always  entertained  a 
high  respect  and  esteem  for  Hull."  General  James 
Grant  Wilson,  in  a  paper  on  the  life  of  Captain  Hull, 
gives  the  following :  ' '  Captain  Hull  asked  Dacres  if  there 
was  anything  in  particular  in  the  Guerriere  which  he 
wished  to  preserve.  On  his  expressing  a  desire  to  save 
a  large  Bible,  the  gift  of  his  mother,  Hull  sent  an  offi 
cer  for  it.  Many  years  later  our  hero  met  Dacres, 
then  an  admiral,  and  in  command  of  a  squadron  an 
chored  off  Gibraltar.  He  expressed  the  greatest  pleas 
ure  at  meeting  the  commodore,  and  was  constant  in 
his  courtesies  and  attentions.  At  a  dinner  given  on 
board  his  flagship  he  showed  Mrs.  Hull  the  treasured 
Bible  which  her  husband  had  saved.  Dacres  was 
deeply  touched  by  Hull's  humane  and  generous  treat 
ment  of  himself  and  his  crew."  While  visiting  Rome 
in  1837,  Hull  and  Dacres  were  frequently  seen  walking 
arm  in  arm  through  the  streets  of  the  Eternal  City. 
The  former  was  short  and  stout,  and  the  latter  was 
unusually  thin  and  tall. 

The  following  song  was  written  soon  after  Captain 
Hull's  victory,  and  was  popular  many  years  afterward. 

THE   CONSTITUTION  AND  THE   GUERRIERE. 
AIR  :  The  Landlady  of  France. 

It  ofttimes  has  been  told  that  British  seamen  bold 

Could  flog  the  tars  of  France  so  neat  and  handy,  Oh  ! 

But  they  never  met  their  match  till  the  Yankees  did  them  catch — 

Oh,  the  Yankee  boy  for  fighting-  is  the  dandy,  Oh  ! 

The  Guerriere,  a  frigate  bold,  on  the  foaming  ocean  rolled, 
Commanded  by  proud  Dacres,  all  the  grandee,  Oh  ! 
With  as  choice  a  British  crew  as  a  rammer  ever  drew — 
They  could  flog  the  French,  two  to  one,  so  handy,  Oh  ! 

When  this  frigate  hove  in  view,  says  proud  Dacres  to  his  crew  : 
"  Come,  clear  the  ship  for  action  and  be  handy,  Oh  ! 


1812.        THE  CONSTITUTION  AND  THE   GUERRIERE.          363 

To  the  weather  gage,  boys,  get  her  ! "  and  to  make  his  men  fight 

better, 
Gave  them  to  drink  gunpowder  mixed  with  brandy,  Oh  ! 

Then  Dacres  loudly  cries  :  "  Make  the  Yankee  ship  your  prize — 
You  can  in  thirty  minutes,  neat  and  handy,  Oh  ! 
Thirty-five's  enough,  I'm  sure,  and,  if  you'll  do  it  in  a  score, 
I'll  treat  you  to  a  double  share  of  brandy,  Oh  ! " 

The  British  shot  flew  hot,  which  the  Yankees  answered  not 
Till  they  got  within  the  distance  they  call'd  handy,  Oh  ! 
Then  says  Hull  unto  his  crew :  u  Boys,  let's  see  what  we  can  do  ! — 
If  we  take  this  boasting  Briton  we're  the  dandy,  Oh  ! " 

The  first  broadside  we  poured  took  her  mainmast  by  the  board, 

Which  made  this  lofty  frigate  look  abandoned,  Oh  ! 

Then  Dacres  shook  his  head,  and  to  his  officers  he  said, 

"  Lord  !  I  didn't  think  these  Yankees  were  so  handy,  Oh  ! " 

Then  Dacres  came  aboard  to  deliver  up  his  sword. 

Loath  was  he  to  part  with  it,  'twas  so  handy,  Oh  ! 

u  Oh,  keep  your  sword,"  says  Hull,  "for  it  only  makes  you  dull, 

So  cheer  up — and  let  us  have  a  little  brandy,  Oh  !  " 

"  Come,  fill  your  glasses  full,  and  we'll  drink  '  To  Captain  Hull ! ' 
And  so  merrily  we'll  push  about  the  brandy,  Oh  ! " 
John  Bull  may  toast  his  fill  !  let  the  world  say  what  it  will, 
But  the  Yankee  boy  for  fighting  is  the  dandy,  Oh  ! 


CHAPTER  IV. 

THE   SECOND   FRIGATE   ACTION. 

ON  the  29th  of  September,  1812,  the  British  38-gun 
frigate  Macedonian,  Captain  John  Surman  Garden, 
sailed  from  Portsmouth,  England,  with  orders  to  cruise 
off  the  coast  of  Portugal  and  Spain,  and  to  keep  a 
sharp  lookout  for  French  merchantmen  and  war  ships. 
This  ship  was  ' '  one  of  the  finest  frigates  in  the  Brit 
ish  navy,"  l  and  at  this  time  she  was  scarcely  two  years 
old  and  had  just  left  the  docks,  where  she  had  been 
thoroughly  overhauled.  From  the  time  she  was 
launched  it  had  been  the  Macedonian's  good  fortune 
to  be  well  officered  and  well  manned.  Her  first  com 
mander,  Lord  William  Fitzroy,  a  son  of  the  Duke  of 
Graf  ton,  of  the  house  of  Marlborough,  is  reputed  to 
have  been  one  of  the  severest  disciplinarians  of  his 
day.  Whenever  he  appeared  on  his  quarter-deck  and 
began  pacing  the  planks  with  a  distinctively  Fitzroy 
gait,  a  hush  would  spread  over  the  entire  ship's  com 
pany  ;  the  officers  withdrawing  from  the  weather  side 
and  lowering  their  voices,  while  the  seamen  instinct 
ively  shrank  from  his  gaze  and  went  forward  as  far 
as  possible.  Lord  Fitzroy  may  not  have  been  a  first- 
class  sailor,  but  he  was  thoroughly  conscious  of  his 
exalted  rank,  and  was  an  enthusiastic  disciplinarian. 
Bold  indeed  was  the  officer  who  had  the  temerity  to 
address  him  as  "captain,"  or  to  reply  to  his  commands 
with  a  "Yes,  sir,"  instead  of  "  My  lord"  or  "Yes, 
me  lud." 


1  James'  Naval  Occurrences,  p.  125. 

(364) 


1812. 


MACEDONIAN  AN  EFFICIENT   FRIGATE. 


365 


The  Macedonian  had  not  been  many  days  out  on 
her  maiden  cruise  when  an  incident  happened  that 
will  illustrate  Captain  Fitzroy's  temperament.  While 
she  was  at  Lisbon,  one  of  the  sailors,  named  Bob  Ham 
mond,  came  aboard  intoxicated,  and  on  the  next  day 
he  received  four  dozen  lashes  for  the  offense.  As  soon 
as  the  punishment  had  been  inflicted,  Bob  applied  him 
self  lustily  to  the  bottle,  and  before  night  he  was  again 
''gloriously  drunk,"  and  while  in  this  condition  he 


Portsmouth. 

suddenly  conceived  the  idea  of  making  a  "  sociable 
call "  on  the  captain,  just  to  show  that  he  harbored  no 
ill  will  for  the  flogging  he  had  received.  Marching 
up  to  the  quarter-deck,  he  accosted  his  commander  in 
the  free-and-easy  style  with  which  one  "good  fellow" 
should  address  another,  and  said,  "Hello,  Billy,  my 
boy,  is  that  you  ? "  Observing  that  he  had  made  an 
impression,  Bob  followed  up  his  advantage  by  saying, 
"You  are  young  and  foolish,  my  boy — just  fit  to 
launch.  You  are  like  a  young  lion,  Billy,  all  your  sor 
rows  are  to  come."  As  soon  as  the  noble  lord  could 
recover  his  voice  he  shrieked  out,  "Put  that  man  in 


366  THE  SECOND  FRIGATE  ACTION.  1812. 

irons  !  "  And  the  next  morning  Bob  received  five  dozen 
lashes. 

In  the  eight  months  that  Lord  Fitzroy  commanded 
the  Macedonian  he  brought  her  crew  to  the  highest 
point  of  efficiency,  which  was  sustained  long  afterward. 
When  he  left  her,  the  command  devolved  in  rapid  suc 
cession  on  Captain  Carson,  Captain  Waldgrave  and 
Captain  Garden,  all  of  whom  ruled  with  an  iron  hand, 
and  gave  her  the  reputation  of  being  the  best-manned 
ship  in  the  navy.  The  unusual  efficiency  of  the  Mace 
donian's  crew  was  especially  noticeable  during  her 
operations  off  Basque  Roads  in  the  summer  of  1812. 
Captain  George  Richard  Pechell,  at  that  time  serving 
as  a  junior  lieutenant  in  her,  records  :  "  Scarcely  was 
there  a  day  in  which  the  Macedonian  for  months  was 
not  engaged  either  with  the  batteries  or  stopping  the 
convoys  ;  and  not  an  enemy's  vessel  in  that  roadstead 
even  moved  without  the  Macedonian's  signal  being 
made  to  advance — which  alone  gave  repeated  occa 
sions  for  manoeuvring  and  firing.  The  precision  of  the 
fire  from  the  Macedonian  was  never  more  observable 
than  on  the  evening  of  the  6th  of  August,  1812,  when  a 
French  lugger  was  chased  ashore  under  the  batteries 
near  L' Isle  d'Aix."1  David  Hope,  the  first  lieutenant 
of  the  Macedonian,  said  :  "  The  cruise  previous  to  our 
unfortunate  capture  we  were  under  the  command  of 
Sir  P.  C.  Durham.  The  men  were  not  only  well  trained, 
but  the  greatest  attention  was  paid  to  every  depart 
ment  of  gunnery."2  The  arrival  of  Captain  Garden 
as  commander  of  the  Macedonian  excited  a  transitory 
hope  in  the  crew  of  less  severity,  as  his  grave  and 
benign  demeanor  indicated  a  kindlier  disposition.  The 
men  exhausted  all  their  arts  on  him,  and  called  him  a 
"  kind-hearted,  fatherly  old  gentleman."  But  in  vain, 
for  he  proved  to  be  severer  than  any  of  his  predecessors. 


1  Letter  from  Captain  Pechell  to  Captain  Carden. 
8  Letter  from  Captain  Hope  to  Captain  Carden. 


1812.  THE  MACEDONIAN  OFF  THE  CANARIES.  367 

At  the  time  Captain  Carden  sailed  from  England  in 
the  Macedonian  news  of  the  first  action  between 
American  and  English  frigates  had  not  arrived,  al 
though  it  was  known  that  war  had  been  declared.  As 
the  Macedonian  was  bound  for  the  coast  of  Portugal 
and  Spain,  there  was  little  anticipation  of  an  encounter 
with  an  American  frigate  ;  but  as  there  were  a  number 
of  American  seamen  in  her  crew,  the  fact  that  war  ex 
isted  between  the  two  countries  was  carefully  kept  from 
them.  Rumors  of  the  hostilities,  however,  were  circu 
lating  among  the  men,  and  it  was  not  long  before  the 
unusual  precautions  and  sharp  lookout  kept  by  the 
officers,  together  with  the  knowledge  that  the  relations 
between  the  United  States  and  England  had  been  more 
than  usually  strained  in  the  last  two  years,  made  the 
men  feel  almost  sure  that  the  two  nations  were  at  war. 

Arriving  off  the  coast  of  Portugal,  the  Macedonian 
took  a  run  down  to  Madeira,  where  eight  hundred  dol 
lars'  worth  of  wine  was  taken  aboard  and  stowed  away 
for  the  officers  and  their  friends  in  England.  While 
at  this  place  Captain  Carden  was  informed  that  the 
United  States  32-gun  frigate  Essex  had  sailed,  or  was 
about  to  sail,  from  the  Delaware,  and  it  was  expected 
that  she  would  cruise  in  the  vicinity  of  Madeira  and 
the  Canary  Islands.  Determined  to  teach  the  Ameri 
cans  that  it  was  dangerous  for  them  to  sail  too  far 


View  in  the  Canary  Islands. 

from  home,  Captain  Carden  headed  southward,  and  as 
he  drew  near  the  tropics  he  doubled  his  lookouts  and 


368  THE  SECOND  FRIGATE  ACTION.  1812. 

lay  in  wait  for  the  little  Essex.  On  the  24th  of  Octo 
ber  the  Macedonian  began  to  enter  the  Sargasso  Sea, 
the  waters  of  which  were  turned  to  a  yellowish  tint  by 
the  immense  quantities  of  seaweed  brought  into  it  by 
ocean  currents.  At  dawn  on  the  25th  of  October  the 
frigate  was  in  latitude  29°  North,  longitude  29°  30' 
West,  only  a  few  days'  sail  from  the  Canary  Islands. 
It  was  a  beautiful  Sabbath  morning.  The  sun,  rising 
out  of  the  semitropical  sea,  quickly  dispelled  the 
mists  of  early  dawn  and  dried  the  moist  sails  and  rig 
ging  of  the  frigate.  The  British  seamen  usually  made 
a  sort  of  holiday  of  this  sacred  day,  and  after  they  had 
donned  their  best  rig  and  put  their  ship  in  order  they 
went  down  to  breakfast.  Just  as  they  were  finishing 
the  meal  the  man  at  the  masthead  shouted,  "  Sail 
ahoy  !  "  Believing  that  it  might  be  the  Essex,  Cap 
tain  Garden  rushed  on  deck,  and  exclaimed,  "  Mast 
head,  there  !  " 

"  Sir  \  "  was  the  reply. 

"  Where  away  is  the  sail  \ " 

uTo  the  northwest,  sir." 

u  What  does  she  look  like  \  " 

"  A  square-rigged  vessel,  sir." 

After  a  few  minutes'  pause  Captain  Garden  again 
called  out,  "  Masthead,  there  !  " 

44  Sir?" 

"  What  does  sho  look  like  ?  " 

"  A  large  ship,  sir,  standing  toward  us."  The  news 
quickly  spread  to  all  parts  of  the  ship,  and  by  this  time 
nearly  every  man  and  boy  was  on  deck  eagerly  strain 
ing  his  eyes  to  get  the  first  glimpse  of  the  stranger 
when  her  sails  should  appear  above  the  horizon.  Many 
of  the  men  were  murmuring  their  opinions  to  each 
other  as  to  her  probable  character,  while  the  Ameri 
cans  among  the  crew  intimated  that  if  she  were  an 
American  they  would  surrender  themselves  to  the  cap 
tain  as  prisoners  of  war  rather  than  fight  against  their 
flag.  It  was  not  long  before  the  dreaded  voice  of  Cap- 


1812.  THE  ENGLISH  CLEAR  FOR  ACTION.  369 

tain  Garden  was  again  heard,  this  time  in  more  em 
phatic  tones,  "  Keep  silence,  fore  and  aft !  "  and  when 
all  were  quiet,  for  the  third  time  he  asked  the  man  at 
the  masthead,  "  What  does  she  look  like  I  " 

"A  large  frigate  bearing  down  upon  us,  sir,"  was 
the  reply.  Captain  Garden  then  ascended  the  mizzen 
shrouds  so  as  to  get  a  better  view  of  the  approaching 
stranger.  After  several  minutes  of  careful  scrutiny 
through  his  spyglass  he  hastily  descended  to  the  quar 
ter-deck,  and  with  unwonted  excitement  in  his  voice 
gave  the  order  to  clear  for  action.  In  an  instant  the 
scene  of  tranquillity  was  changed  into  one  of  excite 
ment  and  seeming  confusion.  The  hoarse  call  of  the 
boatswain's  mates,  "All  hands  clear  ship  for  action 
—ahoy  !  "  resounded  through  the  frigate.  The  drum 
and  fife  beat  to  quarters,  bulkheads  were  knocked 
away,  the  guns  were  released  from  their  lashings  and 
loaded  ;  a  woolen  screen,  drenched  with  water,  having 
a  hole  cut  in  the  center,  was  placed  before  the  maga 
zine  entrance,  where  cartridges  were  passed ;  buckets 
of  pistols  were  placed  within  easy  reach,  boarding 
pikes,  cutlasses  and  battle  axes  were  stacked  around 
the  masts,  tubs  of  sand  were  placed  at  convenient  in 
tervals,  so  that  the  decks  could  readily  be  sanded  where 
the  blood  was  spilled  on  them,  and  ammunition  was 
brought  up  and  piled  along  the  decks  near  the  guns. 
Two  marines  and  several  seamen  were  placed  in  each 
of  the  tops  to  pick  off  the  enemy  with  their  muskets 
in  case  the  ships  should  come  to  close  quarters,  and  to 
facilitate  the  trimming  of  the  upper  sails  if  it  should 
be  necessary  to  put  the  ship  through  rapid  manoeuvres. 
Other  sailors,  called  "  trimmers,"  who  were  not  con 
nected  with  the  gun  crews,  were  stationed  on  the  decks 
ready  to  trim  the  lower  sails  whenever  the  ship  changed 
her  position.  All  the  guns  of  the  Macedonian  were 
furnished  with  first-rate  locks,  but  as  a  further  precau 
tion  the  matches  attached  by  lanyards  were  now  lighted 
in  case  the  locks  should  miss  fire.  With  the  exception 


370  THE  SECOND  FRIGATE  ACTION.  1812. 

of  the  Americans  and  the  band  of  eight  musicians,  all 
were  in  the  best  of  spirits,  and  hurried  to  their  quarters 
with  an  alacrity  which  showed  that  they  were  accus 
tomed  to  victory.  Only  one  man,  James  Holmes,  the 
boatswain,  was  on  the  sick  list,  and  at  the  cry  of  bat 
tle  he  arose  from  his  cot  and  hurried  to  his  post. 
The  musicians  asked  to  be  excused  from  the  impend 
ing  conflict,  and  by  virtue  of  their  contract  they  were 
stowed  away  in  the  cable  tier. 

In  an  incredibly  short  time  all  the  preparations  for 
battle  had  been  made,  and  the  recent  scene  of  confu 
sion  had  been  changed  into  one  of  quiet  but  eager 
expectancy.  A  lieutenant  now  passed  along  the  bat 
teries  with  the  boatswain  and  securely  locked  the 
gratings  over  the  hatchways,  so  that  it  would  be  im 
possible  for  any  of  the  men  to  run  below  and  secrete 
themselves  in  the  hold.  The  main  hatchway,  leading 
to  the  cockpit,  and  that  leading  to  the  magazine,  were 
necessarily  left  open,  but  a  strong  guard  of  marines 
was  stationed  at  each  opening,  so  that  none  but  au 
thorized  persons  could  go  below.  A  number  of  junior 
midshipmen  were  stationed  at  different  points  along 
the  batteries,  with  orders,  which  were  given  in  a  loud 
voice  so  that  all  might  hear,  to  "  shoot  down  the  first 
man  who  attempts  to  run  from  his  quarters."  Besides 
this,  thirty  marines  with  loaded  muskets  were  drawn 
up  in  a  line  behind  the  gun  crews,  ready  to  shoot  down 
any  man  who  flinched  from  his  quarters.  The  men 
were  then  instructed  what  they  were  to  do  in  case  it 
became  necessary  to  board.  When  all  these  instruc 
tions  had  been  given,  Captain  Garden  himself  passed 
along  the  gun  deck  urging  the  men  to  fight  valiantly, 
and  reminding  them  of  Nelson's  motto,  "  England  ex 
pects  every  man  to  do  his  duty  !  "  and  then  ran  up  the 
colors.  The  men  responded  with  three  cheers,  and 
Captain  Garden  returned  to  his  quarter-deck. 

By  this  time  the  sail  on  the  horizon  had  risen  suffi 
ciently  to  show  that  a  frigate  was  rapidly  drawing  hear 


1812. 


A  TRIAL   OF  SPEED. 


371 


under  a  cloud  of  canvas.     To  avoid  the  possibility  of 
a  mistake,  Captain  Garden  showed  the  private  signal 


/Scene  o/  Me  second  frigate  action. 

of  the  day  and  his  number,  but  after  they  had  been 
kept  up  some  time  without  a  response  he  was  satisfied 
that  he  had  to  deal  with  an  enemy.  The  stranger  now 
went  through  a  number  of  rapid  evolutions  for  the 
purpose  of  testing  the  Macedonian's  speed,  and<  if  pos 
sible  gaining  the  weather  gage  which  the  English  ship 
held.  The  beautiful  style  in  which  the  stranger  was 


372  THE  SECOND  FRIGATE  ACTION.  1812. 

put  through  these  tactics  aroused  the  admiration  of 
the  English.  She  tacked,  luffed,  took  in  sail  or  spread 
more  canvas  with  marvelous  rapidity,  and  seemed  to 
answer  to  the  slightest  wish  of  her  commander,  like  a 
thing  of  life.  She  was  so  near  that  the  dashes  of  spray 
frequently  drenching  her  forecastle  and  the  foam  rising 
under  her  bow,  as  she  rushed  swiftly  through  the  water, 
could  be  seen  sparkling  and  gleaming  in  the  bright 
sunlight.  With  the  aid  of  their  glasses  the  British 
officers  made  out  groups  of  men  on  her  quarter-deck 
scanning  them  closely,  while  through  her  open  ports 
they  caught  occasional  glimpses  of  sailors  moving 
about  the  decks  and  the  gun  crews  standing  quietly 
at  their  stations.  The  ominous  absence  of  tompions  in 
the  long  row  of  black  muzzles  that  protruded  from 
both  sides  of  the  frigate  plainly  indicated  that  the 
stranger  was  fully  prepared  for  battle ;  while  every 
now  and  then  a  shift  in  her  sails  revealed  marines  sta 
tioned  in  her  tops  armed  with  muskets,  showing  that 
they  were  not  at  all  afraid  of  coming  to  close  quarters. 
Having  watched  the  manoeuvres  of  the  stranger  some 
time,  a  veteran  British  seaman  turned  to  his  shipmate 
and  muttered  :  "  It's  no  fool  of  a  seaman  handling  that 
ship.  We've  got  hot  work  ahead  of  us." 

As  yet  the  stranger  had  given  no  indication  of  her 
nationality,  and  the  British  officers  were  still  specu 
lating  on  the  chances  that  she  was  a  French  ship.  Soon 
after,  the  Macedonian  showed  her  colors,  however,  four 
little  bundles,  in  the  distance  looking  like  mere  specks, 
were  noticed  ascending  the  stranger's  gaff  and  rigging. 
On  reaching  the  mastheads  they  were  secured,  and 
remained  there  as  if  in  no  hurry  to  reveal  themselves. 
But  as  the  ships  drew  nearer,  the  bundles  were  sud 
denly  loosed,  and  as  the  breeze  caught  them  they  flut 
tered  out  into  the  beautiful  folds  of  the  Stars  and 
Stripes.  At  that  time  the  American  flag  showed  fif 
teen  stars  and  fifteen  stripes.  The  red,  white  and  blue 
bunting,  radiant  in  the  brilliant  sunlight,  formed  a 


1812.  THE  BATTLE  OPENS.  373 

beautiful  contrast  to  the  snowy  whiteness  of  the  belly 
ing  sails  and  the  cloudless  sky.  At  the  foremast  a 
sturdy  little  American  jack,  with  its  white  stars  on  a 
blue  field,  as  if  anxious  to  make  the  most  of  its  short 
length,  aimed  its  flight  heavenward  and  fluttered  sev 
eral  inches  above  the  masthead  itself.  The  Ameri 
can  flags  at  the  main  and  mizzen  mastheads  assumed 
their  positions  above  the  cloud  of  canvas  with  becom 
ing  grace,  while  "Old  Glory"  at  the  gaff  majestically 
revealed  its  beautiful  folds  in  quiet  dignity.  While 
this  was  taking  place,  the  men  of  the  Macedonian 
stood  at  their  guns  in  motionless  suspense ;  but  when 
the  nationality  of  the  stranger  was  made  known,  sev 
eral  American  seamen  went  aft,  and  through  their 
spokesman,  John  Card  (who  was  described  by  one  of 
his  shipmates  as  being  "as  brave  a  seaman  as  ever  trod 
a  plank"),  frankly  told  Captain  Garden  their  objec 
tions  to  fighting  the  American  flag.  The  British  com 
mander  savagely  ordered  them  back  to  their  quarters, 
threatening  to  shoot  them  if  they  again  made  the  re 
quest.  Half  an  hour  later  Jack  Card  was  stretched 
out  on  the  Macedonians  deck  weltering  in  his  blood, 
slain  by  a  shot  from  his  countrymen. 

Finding  that  the  Macedonian  had  the  i  l  superiority 
of  sailing,"  the  American  commander  prepared  to  en 
gage  with,  the  disadvantage  of  a  leeward  position.  A 
little  after  nine  o'clock  Captain  Garden,  more  to  test 
the  distance  than  to  do  injury,  ordered  three  guns  to 
be  fired  from  the  port  battery  of  the  main  deck.  Three 
18-pound  shot  promptly  sped  toward  the  American, 
and  ricochetting  along  the  rough  water  they  sank  be 
fore  reaching  the  mark.  Captain  Garden  then  called 
out :  "  Cease  firing !  You  are  throwing  away  your 
shot !  "  An  instant  later  he  gave  the  command,  "  Pre 
pare  to  wear  ship  and  attack  the  enemy  with  your  star 
board  guns ! "  The  gun  crews  were  shifted  over  to  the 
opposite  battery,  while  the  marines  changed  their  guard 
line  to  the  port  side.  About  9.10  A.  M.  a  long  tongue 


374  THE  SECOND   FRIGATE  ACTION.  1812. 

of  flame  leaped  from  the  American  port  battery,  fol 
lowed  by  a  column  of  white  smoke,  which  rolled  along 
the  water  a  great  distance,  a  ring  of  vapor  floating 
off  on  the  breeze.  To  the  men  on  the  Macedonian?  s 
main  deck  the  report  of  this  gun  seemed  to  be  from 
their  own  quarter-deck,  but  an  instant  later  a  peculiar 
noise,  like  the  tearing  of  sails,  was  heard  just  over  their 
heads.  It  was  the  wind  of  the  American  shot.  This 
was  followed  by  several  more  in  rapid  succession,  which 
also  whizzed  unpleasantly  close  to  the  heads  of  the 
British  gun  crews ;  but  as  yet  no  damage  had  been 
done,  and  both  ships  ceased  firing. 

"  About  9.20  A.  M."1  the  firing  opened  again  with 
great  effect.  The  roaring  of  cannon  could  be  heard 
from  all  parts  of  the  Macedonian,  and  the  ship  trem 
bled  in  every  part  like  an  affrighted  animal,  while 
the  more  distant  but  rapid  booming  from  the  Amer 
ican  frigate  proclaimed  that  the  battle  had  opened  in 
earnest.  In  a  few  seconds  the  sound  of  shot  crashing 
through  the  side  of  the  ship  could  be  heard.  The  first 
one  that  struck  the  Macedonian  came  through  the 
starboard  bulwark  and  killed  the  sergeant  of  marines,2 
and  soon  afterward  her  gaff  halyards  were  carried 
away.  Scarcely  had  this  happened  when  the  men  on 
the  quarter-deck  were  startled  by  a  sharp  crack  over 
their  heads.  Looking  upward,  they  saw  the  mizzen  top 
mast  swaying  back  and  forth,  and  an  instant  later 
with  a  terrific  crash  it  fell  with  its  enormous  weight 
of  sails,  yards  and  rigging  into  the  maintop.  There  it 
lay  in  a  horizontal  line  suspended  between  the  mizzen 
and  main  tops,  threatening  to  fall  at  any  moment  and 
crush  the  men  working  the  guns  below.  But  the  gun 
ners  had  no  time  to  consider  this  danger,  for  their  offi 
cers  were  behind  them,  and  with  drawn  swords  were 
constantly  urging  them  to  renewed  energy.  As  they 


1  James'  History  of  the  British  Navy,  vol.  v,  p.  395. 

2  Statement  of  Captain  Garden. 


1812.      GREAT  RAPIDITY  OP  THE  AMERICAN'S  FIRE.       375 

warmed  up  to  the  fight  many  of  the  men  pulled  off 
their  jackets,  others  their  jackets  and  waistcoats,  and 
finally  many  had  nothing  on  them  but  trousers  with  a 


120 


Diagram  of  the  battle. 

handkerchief  tied  around  their  waists,  one  of  the  sea 
men  named  Jack  Sadler  being  especially  conspicuous 
for  the  energy  with  which  he  fought.  Many  of  the 
men  and  boys  seemed  to  be  entirely  unconscious  of 
danger.  A  powder  boy  named  Cooper,  who  was  sta 
tioned  at  a  gun  some  distance  from  the  magazine,  so 
that  he  had  to  pass  nearly  the  whole  length  of  the  bat 
teries  at  each  trip,  would  receive  a  cartridge  from  the 
woolen  screen  before  the  magazine,  and,  covering  it 
with  his  jacket  to  guard  against  sparks,  would  return 
to  his  gun  ,on  a  full  run,  jumping  over  men  writhing  in 
their  death  agonies,  and  skipping  over  pools  of  blood 
as  merrily  as  if  engaged  in  a  steeple  chase.  Lieutenant 
John  Bulford  occasionally  cheered  him  with  a  "Well 
done,  my  boy !  You  are  worth  your  weight  in  gold." 

Ten  minutes  after  the  battle  had  opened,  the  scene 
in  the  Macedonian  was  indescribably  confused  and 
horrible.  "It  was  like  some  awfully  tremendous 
thunderstorm  whose  deafening  roar  is  attended  by  in 
cessant  streaks  of  lightning,  carrying  death  in  every 
flash  and  strewing  the  ground  with  victims  of  its 
wrath  ;  only  in  our  case  the  scene  was  rendered  more 
horrible  than  that  by  the  presence  of  torrents  of  blood 


376  THE  SECOND  FRIGATE  ACTION.  1812. 

which  dyed  our  decks."1  While  one  of  the  men  sta 
tioned  at  the  fifth  gun  on  the  main  deck  was  stooping 
to  lift  a  shot,  blood  suddenly  spurted  from  his  arm, 
although  nothing  was  seen  to  strike  him.  The  third 
lieutenant  quickly  tied  a  handkerchief  around  the 
shattered  lirnb  and  sent  the  groaning  wretch  below  to 
the  cockpit.  In  order  to  keep  the  decks  clear  the  in 
jured  were  hurried  below  as  fast  as  possible,  while 
those  who  were  killed  outright,  or  were  so  mutilated 
as  to  be  beyond  hope  of  recovery,  were  thrown  over 
board  without  ceremony.  The  slaughter  among  the 
boys  of  the  Macedonian  was  one  of  the  most  painful 
incidents  of  the  battle.  The  lads  supplying  the  sixth 
and  seventh  guns  on  the  main  deck  were  disabled  early 
in  the  action,  one  of  them  having  his  leg  taken  off  by 
a  cannon  shot,  while  the  other  was  struck  in  the  ankle 
by  a  grapeshot.  A  stout  Yorkshire  man  lifted  the 
latter  in  his  arms  and  carried  him  to  the  cockpit,  where 
the  foot  was  amputated.  A  Portuguese  boy  who  was 
supplying  the  quarter-deck  guns  had  nearly  all  the  flesh 
on  his  face  burned  off  by  an  accidental  explosion  of 
the  cartridge  he  was  carrying,  and  as  the  agonized  youth 
lifted  both  hands,  as  if  imploring  relief,  a  cannon  shot 
cut  him  in  two.  Another  Portuguese  boy  serving  the 
quarter-deck  guns  was  also  killed. 

While  this  carnage  and  destruction  were  taking 
place  in  the  Macedonian,  Captain  Garden  and  his 
aids,  who  were  directing  the  battle  from  the  quarter 
deck,  could  not  discover  anything  in  the  appearance 
of  the  American  frigate  to  indicate  that  she  was  suf 
fering  in  a  corresponding  degree.  In  the  early  part  of 
the  action,  it  is  true,  a  shot  carried  away  her  mizzen 
topgallant  mast,  but  aside  from  this  her  spars  seemed 
to  be  intact.  Her  firing  had  been  wonderfully  accu 
rate,  and  was  so  rapid  that  "  in  a  few  minutes  she  was 
enveloped  in  a  dense  volume  of  smoke,  which  from  the 

1  Account  of  an  eyewitness. 


1812.  THE  AMERICANS  AT  CLOSE  QUARTERS.  377 

Macedonians  quarter-deck  appeared  like  a  huge 
cloud  rolling  along  the  water,  illuminated  by  lurid 
flashes  of  lightning  and  emitting  a  continuous  roar  of 
thunder."  But  the  unceasing  storm  of  round  shot, 
grape  and  canister,  and  the  occasional  glimpses  of  the 
Stars  and  Stripes  floating  above  the  clouds  of  smoke, 
forcibly  dispelled  the  illusion,  and  showed  the  English 
men  that  they  were  dealing  with  an  enemy  who  knew 
how  to  strike,  and  who  struck  hard. 

At  9.50  A.  M.,  or  thirty  minutes  after  the  battle 
opened,  the  American  commander  found  such  volumes 
of  dense  smoke  collected  around  his  ship  that  it  was 
impossible  to  fire  with  accuracy.  Giving  the  order  to 
cease  firing,  he  took  a  position  a  little  forward  of  the 
Macedonians  beam  and  renewed  the  battle.  The  fire 
from  the  American  frigate  at  close  quarters  was  terrific. 
Her  cannon  were  handled  with  such  rapidity  that  there 
seemed  to  be  one  continuous  flash  from  her  broadside, 
and  several  times  Captain  Garden  and  his  officers  be 
lieved  her  to  be  on  fire,1  and  they  spread  the  report 
along  the  British  batteries  so  as  to  encourage  the  ex 
hausted  gun  crews,  who  responded  with  cheers.  It 
was  in  reference  to  this  incident  that  the  following 
verses  appeared  in  a  periodical  soon  after  the  war : 

"  They  thought  they  saw  our  ship  in  flame, 

Which  made  them  all  huzza,  sir ; 

But  when  the  second  broadside  came 

It  made  them  hold  their  jaw,  sir." 

The  diagonal  fire  from  the  American  frigate  soon 
cut  away  the  chocks  of  the  guns,  dismounted  every 
carronade  on  the  starboard  side  of  the  quarter-deck 
and  forecastle,  and  cut  down  officers  and  men  in  great 
numbers.  By  10.45  A.  M.  the  carnage  in  the  Mace 
donian  was  fearful.  The  cries  of  the  wounded  and 
dying  came  from  all  parts  of  the  ship.  One  man, 

1  Mackenzie's  Life  of  Stephen  Decatur. 

27 


378  THE  SECOND  FRIGATE  ACTION.  1812. 

named  Aldrich,  had  his  hand  taken  off  by  a  shot,  and 
almost  at  the  same  instant  another  shot  tore  open  his 
bowels  in  a  horrible  manner.  Two  or  three  of  his  ship 
mates  caught  him  as  he  fell  and  threw  him  overboard 
while  he  was  yet  alive.  A  quartermaster' s  mate  named 
Thomas  James  Nankivee,  who  was  exceedingly  popu 
lar  with  the  men.  was  struck  near  the  heart  by  a  grape 
or  canister  shot,  and  exclaiming,  ' '  Oh,  my  God  !  "  he 
was  carried  below  and  shortly  afterward  died.  The 
tyrannical  first  lieutenant,  David  Hope,  was  wounded 
on  the  head  by  a  grummet  which  had  been  torn  from 
a  hammock  clew  by  a  shot  and  was  hurled  against 
him.  He  went  below,  and  after  his  wound  had  been 
dressed  he  returned  to  the  deck  shouting  at  the  top  of 
his  voice,  "  Keep  on  fighting !  "  There  was  not  a  sea 
man  in  the  ship  who  would  not  have  rejoiced  had  Hope 
shared  the  fate  of  Nankivee.  One  heavy  shot  shat 
tered  the  muzzle  of  the  fifth  gun  on  the  main  deck  and 
scattered  the  fragments  around,  injuring  several  men. 
When  the  ship  rolled,  the  remainder  of  the  gun  struck 
a  beam  of  the  upper  deck  and  became  jammed  in  that 
position.  A  24-pound  shot  also  passed  through  the 
flannel  screen  of  the  magazine,  just  over  the  opening 
through  which  the  ammunition  was  passed.  James 
Holmes,  the  boatswain,  who  had  left  his  cot  in  the  sick 
bay  at  the  call  to  quarters,  was  in  the  act  of  fastening 
a  stopper  on  a  backstay  which  had  been  carried  away, 
when  a  cannon  ball  struck  him  on  the  head,  killing  him 
instantly ;  and  another  man,  attempting  to  complete 
the  unfinished  task,  was  also  struck  down.  Shortly 
afterward  the  schoolmaster,  Dennis  Col  well,  was  mor 
tally  wounded.  While  stepping  from  the  cabin  door 
the  steward  was  struck  by  a  heavy  shot  and  instantly 
killed.  Even  the  goat  kept  by  the  officers  for  her  milk 
did  not  escape  the  dreadful  storm  of  iron,  for  her  hind 
legs  were  shot  off,  and  she  was  thrown  overboard. 

But  above  the  din  of  battle  and  the  groans  of  the 
wounded  rose  the  frequent  cheers  and  shouts  of  the 


1812.  "WE  ALL  APPEARED  CHEERFUL."  379 

men  who  yet  remained  unhurt.  Samuel  Leech,  who 
was  in  the  Macedonian  during  this  battle,  said  :  "  Our 
men  kept  cheering  with  all  their  might.  I  cheered 
with  them,  though  I  confess  I  scarcely  knew  what  for. 
Certainly  there  was  nothing  very  inspiriting  in  the  as 
pect  of  things.  Grapeshot  and  canister  were  pouring 
through  our  portholes  like  leaden  hail ;  the  large  shot 
came  against  the  ship's  side,  shaking  her  to  the  very 
keel,  and  passing  through  her  timbers  and  scattering 
terrific  splinters,  which  did  more  appalling  work  than 
the  shot  itself.  A  constant  stream  of  wounded  men 
were  being  hurried  to  the  cockpit  from  all  quarters  of 
the  ship.  My  feelings  were  pretty  much  as  I  suppose 
every  one  else  felt  at  such  a  time.  That  men  are  with 
out  thought  when  they  stand  among  the  dying  and 
dead  is  too  absurd  an  idea  to  be  entertained.  We  all 
appeared  cheerful,  but  I  know  that  many  a  serious 
thought  ran  through  my  mind.  Still,  what  could  we 
do  but  keep  up  a  semblance  at  least  of  animation  ?  To 
run  from  our  quarters  would  have  been  certain  death 
from  the  hands  of  our  own  officers ;  to  give  way  to 
gloom  or  show  fear  would  do  no  good,  and  might  brand 
us  with  the  name  of  cowards  and  insure  certain  defeat. 
Our  only  true  philosophy,  therefore,  was  to  make  the 
best  of  our  situation  by  fighting  bravely  and  cheer 
fully.  I  thought  a  good  deal,  however,  of  the  other 
world  ;  every  groan,  every  falling  man,  told  me  that 
the  next  instant  I  might  be  before  my  Judge.  A  fel 
low  named  John,  who  for  some  petty  offense  had  been 
put  on  board  as  a  punishment,  was  carried  past  me 
wounded.  I  distinctly  heard  the  large  drops  of  blood 
fall — pat — pat — pat — on  the  deck.  His  wound  was 
mortal." 

And  still  the  American  frigate  kept  up  her  merciless 
cannonading.  As  the  breeze  occasionally  made  a  rent 
in  the  smoke,  her  officers  could  be  seen  walking  around 
her  quarter-deck,  calmly  directing  the  work  of  destruc 
tion,  while  her  gun  crews  were  visible  through  the  open 


380  THE  SECOND  FRIGATE  ACTION.  1812. 

ports  deliberately  loading  and  aiming  their  pieces.  At 
10.45  A.  M.  a  shot  carried  away  the  stump  of  the  Mace 
donian?  s  mizzenmast,  and  the  men  on  it  at  the  time  were 
lost.  Availing  himself  of  the  superior  sailing  of  the 
Macedonian  and  the  advantage  which  the  weather 
gage  gave  him,  Captain  Garden  at  first  kept  at  long 
range,  being  under  the  impression  that  he  was  attack 
ing  the  Essex,  which,  as  he  well  knew,  was  armed 
almost  entirely  with  short  guns  ;  and  he  believed  that 
he  was  holding  himself  at  a  great  advantage  by  attack 
ing  her  at  long  range,  where  her  short  guns  could  not 
reach  him.  But  it  was  not  long  before  he  was  con 
vinced  of  the  mistake,  and  he  determined  to  bring  his 
antagonist  to  close  quarters  so  as  to  decide  his  shat 
tered  fortunes  by  boarding.  With  this  in  view  he  or 
dered  his  helm  aport  and  gave  the  order  for  boarders 
to  be  called.  ' '  Every  man  was  on  deck,  several  who 
had  lost  an  arm  responded,  and  the  universal  cheer 
was,  '  Let  us  conquer  or  die  ! ' "  *  But,  unfortunately 
for  Captain  Garden's  intentions,  a  shot  at  this  moment 
carried  away  the  fore  brace,  and  the  yard  swinging 
around  threw  the  ship  into  the  wind  and  exposed  her 
to  a  raking  fire.  The  American  quickly  availed  him 
self  of  this  advantage  and  poured  in  a  terrific  storm  of 
round  shot,  grape  and  canister. 

After  a  few  minutes  of  this  exposure  the  Mace 
donian  was  reduced  to  a  wreck.  Her  decks  were 
strewed  with  the  dead  and  dying  ;  men  were  frequently 
coming  up  the  main  hatchway  bearing  limbs  that  had 
just  been  detached  from  some  suffering  wretches,  which 
were  to  be  cast  overboard,  for  there  was  not  sufficient 
room  to  allow  the  accumulation  of  these  severed  mem 
bers.  As  the  cockpit  long  before  had  been  crowded  to 
overflowing,  the  surgeon  removed  his  instruments  into 
the  steerage.  All  these  rooms  were  filled  with  injured 
men,  some  groaning,  others  cursing,  a  few  praying, 

1  Account  of  First-Lieutenant  David  Hope  of  the  Macedonian. 


1812.  DREADFUL  SCENE   IN  THE   COCKPIT.  381 

while  those  that  arrived  last  were  begging  most  pite- 
ously  to  have  their  wounds  dressed  next.  The  long 
table  of  the  wardroom,  around  which  the  officers  had 
sat  at  many  a  jolly  mess,  was  covered  with  mangled 
bodies  which  the  surgeon  and  his  mate,  smeared  from 
head  to  foot  with  blood,  and  looking  more  like  butch 
ers  than  physicians,  were  cutting  and  sawing,  for  there 
was  no  time  for  anaesthetics  or  refined  surgery.  A 
Swede,  named  Logholrn,  was  brought  down  toward  the 
close  of  the  action  with  a  serious  wound  just  above 
the  kneecap.  Without  ceremony  he  was  thrown  on 
the  bloody  table,  and  was  firmly  held  by  several  men 
while  the  surgeon,  in  spite  of  the  agonizing  cries  and 
the  fearful  struggles  of  the  man,  cut  the  leg  off  above 
the  knee.  The  carpenter,  Reed,  had  his  leg  taken  off 
in  the  same  manner,  while  some  of  the  men  were  so 
dreadfully  mangled  with  splinters  that  the  surgeon 
pronounced  their  cases  hopeless,  and  as  an  act  of 
mercy  they  were  taken  on  deck  and  thrown  into  the 
sea,  where*  their  groans,  prayers  or  imprecations 
were  quickly  hushed  by  the  surging  waters.  As  most 
of  the  wounded  were  lying  helplessly  on  the  lower 
decks,  cots  were  got  out  as  fast  as  possible  for  their 
accommodation.  One  seaman,  named  Wells,  after  hav 
ing  had  his  arm  amputated,  cheerfully  said:  "Well, 
doctor,  I  have  lost  my  arm  in  the  service  of  my  coun 
try,  but  I  don't  mind  it.  It's  the  fortune  of  war."  His 
companions,  after  the  battle  was  over,  gave  him  some 
rum  to  drink,  inflammation  set  in,  and  he  soon  died. 
Another  poor  fellow  who  had  been  lying  helplessly  on 
the  deck  a  long  time  with  a  broken  thigh  bone,  wait 
ing  for  his  turn  at  the  surgeon's  table,  begged  one  of 
the  ship's  boys  for  a  cup  of  water.  His  request  was 
complied  with,  and,  with  a  look  of  unutterable  grati 
tude,  he  drank — and  died. 

By  eleven  o'clock  the  Macedonian  was  totally  dis 
abled.  Her  mizzenmast  had  been  shot  away  close  to 
the  deck  and  had  fallen  with  the  mizzen  topmast  over 


382  THE  SECOND  FRIGATE  ACTION.  1812. 

her  starboard  quarter,  so  that  the  guns  in  that  part  of 
the  ship  could  not  be  fired  without  setting  the  wreck 
in  a  flame.  Her  fore  and  main  topmasts  had  been  shot 
away  at  the  caps,  the  main  yard  was  gone  in  the 
slings,  the  lower  masts  were  cut  and  shattered,  rigging 
of  every  description  had  been  destroyed,  only  a  por 
tion  of  the  foresail  was  left  to  the  yard,  a]l  but  two  of 
the  forecastle  and  quarter-deck  guns  were  disabled, 
while  two  guns  of  the  main  battery  were  knocked  to 
pieces.  Over  one  hundred  cannon  shot  had  penetrated 
her  hull,  many  of  them  between  wind  and  water,  all  of 
her  boats  except  the  jolly  boat  towing  astern  had  been 
smashed  into  splinters,  and  owing  to  her  dismasted 
condition  she  rolled  her  main-deck  guns  under  water. 
About  eleven  o'clock  the  deafening  roar  of  cannon  from 
the  American  frigate  and  the  incessant  rattling  of  iron 
missiles  against  the  side  of  the  Macedonian  suddenly 
ceased.  An  oppressive  silence  followed,  broken  only 
by  the  stifled  groans  of  the  wounded  below  and  the 
creaking  of  the  hulk  as  she  rolled  on  her  beam  ends 
at  each  wave.  Not  understanding  this  unexpected  ces 
sation  of  the  battle,  the  English  officers  hastened  to  dis 
cover  the  cause  of  it,  and  as  soon  as  the  smoke  had 
cleared  away  sufficiently  they  beheld  the  American 
frigate  standing  away  from  them.  Hoping  she  was 
fleeing  because  another  frigate  was  appearing  on  the 
scene  of  action,  or  for  some  cause  unknown  to  them, 
the  surviving  Englishmen  gave  three  cheers.  But  in 
the  course  of  three  quarters  of  an  hour  this  transitory 
hope  vanished,  for  the  American,  after  hauling  out  of 
gunshot,  hove  to,  spliced  her  rigging,  bent  a  few  new 
sails,  and  having  repaired  her  other  inconsiderable  in 
juries,  with  the  exception  of  the  mizzen  topgallant  mast, 
again  with  guns  reloaded  bore  down  on  the  helpless 
Macedonian. 

Captain  Garden  now  assembled  his  surviving  officers 
on  the  deck  in  a  council  of  war.  Lieutenant  David 
Hope  advised  that  the  colors  should  not  be  struck  and 


1812.  THE  AMERICANS  TAKE  POSSESSION.  383 

that  it  would  be  better  for  them  to  sink  alongside.  His 
advice  was  not  followed,  and  it  was  soon  decided  to  sur 
render.  About  noon,  just  as  the  American  frigate,  un 
der  easy  canvas,  with  colors  flying,  came  under  the 
Macedonian's  stern,  ready  to  repeat  her  dreaded 
broadsides,  a  sailor  named  Watson  hauled  down  the 
English  colors.  The  American  promptly  lay  to,  low 
ered  one  of  her  boats,  and  sent  a  party  of  seamen 
and  marines  under  the  command  of  a  lieutenant  to 
take  possession.  The  little  boat  was  tossed  about  by 
the  heavy  sea  like  a  cockleshell,  and  coming  under  the 
Macedonian's  lee  the  lieutenant  clambered  up  the  side 
and  announced  himself  to  Captain  Garden  as  Lieuten 
ant  John  B.  Nicholson,  of  the  American  44-gun  frigate 
United  States,  Captain  Stephen  Decatur.  The  United 
States  had  sailed  from  Boston  on  the  8th  of  October 
in  company  with  the  44-gun  frigate  President,  Cap 
tain  John  Rodgers ;  the  36-gun  frigate  Congress,  Cap 
tain  John  Smith ;  and  the  16-gun  brig  Argus,  Mas 
ter-Commandant  Arthur  Sinclair,  On  the  fourth  day 
out  the  President,  with  the  Congress,  separated  from  the 
United  States  and  the  Argus,  and  after  cruising  for  a 
few  day  together  the  United  States  and  the  Argus 
also  took  separate  courses,  the  latter  making  for  the 
coast  of  Brazil,  while  the  former  stood  over  for  Africa, 
and  on  the  25th  of  October  fell  in  with  the  Mace 
donian. 

The  American  boarders  were  shocked  at  the  awful 
carnage  and  destruction  that  met  their  gaze  in  the 
Macedonian.  The  officers  and  seamen  of  the  two  frig 
ates  were  well  acquainted  with  each  other,  having  ex 
changed  visits  when  the  United  States  and  the  Mace 
donian  were  lying  in  Norfolk  some  months  before  war 
had  been  declared,  and  they  were  not  a  little  sur 
prised  when  they  discovered  whom  they  had  been  fight 
ing.  Going  to  the  wardroom,  Lieutenant  Mcholson 
found  the  surgeon  still  attending  the  wounded,  and 
familiarly  greeted  him  with:  "How  do  you  do,  doc- 


384:  THE  SECOND  FRIGATE  ACTION.  1812. 

tor  ? "  Looking  up  with  a  surprised  glance  at  the  sound 
of  the  well-known  voice,  the  surgeon  shook  his  head 
sadly  and  replied  :  "  I  have  enough  to  do.  You  fellows 
have  made  wretched  work  with  us."  With  difficulty 
the  Americans  made  their  way  through  the  steerage, 
which  was  filled  with  mangled  bodies,  and  as  the  deck 
was  slippery  with  blood  the  heavy  rolling  of  the  ship 
made  their  progress  extremely  hazardous.  They  met 
a  boy  who  was  crying  as  if  his  heart  would  break  be 
cause  his  master,  James  Holmes,  the  boatswain,  whose 
head  had  been  shattered  by  a  cannon  ball,  was  dead. 
The  lad  felt  that  he  had  lost  his  only  friend.  Many  of 
the  Englishmen  were  running  around  the  ship  looking 
up  their  messmates  and  ascertaining  who  had  escaped. 
Many  affecting  scenes  took  place  at  these  meetings. 
Some  had  heard  that  a  messmate  was  dead,  and  great 
joy  was  expressed  when  they  found  him  alive.  On  the 
day  after  the  battle,  a  boy  passing  along  the  berth 
deck  found  a  hammock  strung  up  with  some  one  ap 
parently  sleeping  in  it.  Attempting  to  rouse  the  man, 
it  was  found  that  he  was  dead  ;  evidently  he  had  been 
wounded  and  had  crawled  into  his  hammock.  In  the 
confusion  he  had  escaped  notice  and  had  bled  to  death. 
The  surviving  English  officers  and  a  number  of  the 
men  were  quickly  transferred  to  the  United  States, 
but  those  who  were  left  in  the  wreck,  being  relieved  of 
the  restraint  of  their  officers,  broke  into  the  spirit  room 
and  became  intoxicated  and  riotous.  Many  of  the 
wounded  were  persuaded  to  drink,  and  aggravated 
their  wounds  by  doing  so.  Their  boisterous  songs  and 
derisive  laughter  mingling  with  the  piteous  cries  of 
the  wounded  were  heard  far  into  the  night,  but  amid  it 
all  the  faithful  surgeon  patiently  continued  at  his  re 
volting  task  in  the  steerage,  nor  did  he  find  time  to 
rest  until  day  broke.  When  Captain  Decatur  came 
aboard  he  found  "fragments  of  the  dead  scattered  in 
every  direction,  the  decks  slippery  with  blood,  one  con 
tinuous  agonizing  yell  of  the  unhappy  wounded.  A 


1812.      THE  AMERICAN  AND  BRITISH  COMMANDERS.       385 

scene  so  horrible  of  my  fellow-creatures,  I  assure  you, 
deprived  me  very  much  of  the  pleasure  of  victory."1 

The  personality  of  the  American  and  English  com 
manders  was  sufficiently  remarkable  to  merit  a  mo 
ment's  notice.  They  were  men  of  no  ordinary  fame, 
both  having  risen  to  distinction  from  the  lowest  ranks. 
Captain  Decatur  was  in  his  thirty-fourth  year,  Captain 
Garden  in  his  forty-second.  As  was  the  case  with  Cap 
tains  Hull  and  D  acres,  their  fathers  had  been  engaged 
in  the  war  of  the  American  Revolution.  Captain 
Stephen  Decatur,  Sr.,  commanded  the  privateers  Royal 
Louis  and  the  Fair  American,  and  Major  Garden,  the 
father  of  Captain  Garden,  died  from  wounds  received 
in  the  same  war  while  serving  in  the  British  army  in 
America.  Captain  Decatur  began  his  naval  career  in 
the  French  War,  entering  the  United  States  cruiser 
Delaware  as  a  midshipman,  April  30,  1798,  the  ship  at 
that  time  being  commanded  by  his  father.  Young  De 
catur  also  assisted  in  getting  out  the  keel  pieces  of  the 
frigate  United  States,  in  which  he  achieved  his  bril 
liant  victory.  His  career  in  the  Mediterranean,  and 
his  extraordinary  exploit  in  destroying  the  36-gun 
frigate  Philadelphia  in  the  harbor  of  Tripoli,  have 
already  been  narrated. 

Captain  Garden  began  his  career  in  the  navy  with 
the  disadvantage  of  royal  displeasure.  In  his  father's 
absence  in  America  young  Garden  was  appointed  by 
Queen  Charlotte  a  page  to  the  King,  and  also  an  en 
sign  in  Major  Garden's  regiment,  although  the  lad 
was  less  than  eight  years  old.  As  Mrs.  Garden,  who 
was  in  Ireland,  refused  to  take  charge  of  one  of  the 
royal  progeny  as  a  nurse  until  she  received  permission 
to  do  so  from  her  husband,  young  Garden's  name  was 
stricken  from  the  list  of  pages  and  the  roll  of  his 
regiment,  which  put  an  end  to  his  prospects  of  ad 
vancement  either  at  court  or  in  the  army.  At  the  age 

1  Captain  Decatur  in  a  letter  to  Mrs.  Decatur. 


386  THE  SECOND  FRIGATE   ACTION.  1812. 

of  sixteen  he  entered  the  navy  as  the  captain's  servant 
in  the  74-gun  ship  of  the  line  Edgar,  Captain  Charles 
Thompson.  In  1789,  while  in  the  ship  Perseverance, 
he  cruised  in  the  East  Indies,  and  in  1790  was  made  a 
midshipman.  During  Lord  Howe's  memorable  engage 
ment,  June  1,  1794,  young  Garden  was  conspicuous  for 
his  bravery,  and  was  promoted  to  the  rank  of  lieuten 
ant.  He  served  with  credit  in  the  74-gun  ship  Marl- 
borough,  the  98-gun  ship  Formidable,  the  98-gun  ship 
Barfteur  and  the  100-gun  ship  Queen  Charlotte.  As 
first  lieutenant  in  the  46-gun  frigate  Fisgard  he  again 
displayed  conspicuous  gallantry  during  the  action  with 
V Immortalite,  for  which  he  was  promoted  to  the  rank 
of  commander.  He  also  served  with  distinction  in 
actions  in  the  Mediterranean  and  Red  Seas,  in  the 
Arabian  Gulf  and  in  the  Indian  Ocean.  He  served  in 
the  110-gun  ship  Ville  de  Paris,  the  98-gun  ship 
Queen,  the  74-gun  ship  Mars,  and  on  the  5th  of  April, 
1811,  he  was  appointed  to  the  command  of  the  new  38- 
gun  frigate  Macedonian.  When  the  United  States 
and  the  Macedonian  were  at  anchor  in  Norfolk,  a  few 
months  before  the  War  of  1812,  their  commanders  fre 
quently  interchanged  visits,  and  one  day,  while  Captain 
Garden  was  dining  aboard  the  United  States,  he  re 
marked,  after  pointing  out  the  superiority  of  the  Brit 
ish  frigates:  " Besides,  Decatur,  though  your  ships 
may  be  good  enough,  and  you  are  a  clever  set  of  fel 
lows,  what  practice  have  you  had  in  war?  There  is 
the  rub  !  " 1 

As  Captain  Garden  was  about  to  deliver  his  sword 
to  Captain  Decatur,  the  latter  refused  to  receive  it,  say 
ing,  "  Sir,  I  can  not  receive  the  sword  of  a  man  who 
has  so  bravely  defended  his  ship."  It  was  the  frequent 
manifestation  of  this  magnanimous  spirit  toward  a 
fallen  foe  that  secured  for  our  navy  the  respect  and  es 
teem  of  the  world.  The  flush  of  pride  mantles  the 

1  Mackenzie's  Life  of  Decatur,  p.  157. 


1812.  DECATUR'S  MAGNANIMITY.  337 

cheek  of  every  American  quite  as  much  for  this  noble 
quality  displayed  by  our  naval  heroes  as  for  their  bril 
liant  victories.  Well  might  it  be  said  that  they  not 
only  captured  the  enemy's  ships  but  won  their  hearts 
as  well !  In  a  private  letter  Captain  Decatur  expresses 
a  manly  sympathy  for  Captain  Carden,  when  he  wrote  : 
"  One  half  of  the  satisfaction  arising  from  this  victory 
is  destroyed  in  seeing  the  mortification  of  poor  Carden, 
who  deserved  success  as  much  as  we  did  who  had  the 
good  fortune  to  obtain  it."  No  trouble  was  spared  in 
alleviating  the  sufferings  of  the  prisoners,  and  such 
were  the  kindness  and  delicacy  of  Captain  Decatur's 
bearing  toward  the  British  commander  and  his  officers 
that  he  won  their  heartfelt  gratitude.  All  their  private 
property,  and  even  that  of  the  common  seamen  in  the 
Macedonian,  were  returned  or  its  equivalent  in  money, 
including  the  eight  hundred  dollars'  worth  of  wine 
purchased  at  Madeira  a  few  days  before.  "I  have 
much  gratitude  to  express  to  you,  my  dear  sir,  for  all 
your  kindnesses,  and  all  my  officers  feel  it  equally  with 
myself.  If  ever  we  should  turn  the  tables,  we  will  en 
deavor,  if  possible,  to  improve  on  your  unusual  good 
ness."1  Captain  Brenton,  in  his  History  of  the  Eng 
lish  Navy,  says:  "  Captain  "Decatur,  who  commanded 
the  United  States,  behaved  to  his  prisoners  in  a  man 
ner  so  honorable  and  humane  as  to  entitle  him  not 
only  to  the  thanks  of  Captain  Carden  and  his  officers, 
but  also  to  the  grateful  record  of  history." 

The  American  crew  was  perhaps  as  fine  a  set  of  fel 
lows  as  ever  trod  a  gun  deck.  Most  of  them  had  been 
under  Captain  Decatur  many  years,  having  followed 
him  from  ship  to  ship.  The  same  is  true  of  his  officers, 
the  first  lieutenant,  William  Henry  Allen,  having  served 
under  him  five  years.  Thus  the  officers  and  men  had 
become  thoroughly  acquainted  with  one  another's  hab 
its,  methods  of  discipline  and  navigation,  which,  when 

1  Letter  from  Captain  Carden  to  Captain  Decatur. 


388  THE  SECOND  FRIGATE  ACTION.  1812. 

we  remember  that  every  commander  has  his  own  pe 
culiar  ideas  of  routine,  is  an  item  of  consideration.  It 
had  been  Decatur's  highest  ambition  to  bring  his  ship's 
company  under  the  best  possible  training,  and  the  re 
sult  of  his  efforts  was  seen  in  the  quiet  rapidity  and 
perfect  self-possession  with  which  each  man  performed 
his  part.  The  spirit  of  their  commander  seemed  to 
pervade  the  entire  company,  every  order  being  carried 
out  with  as  much  precision  as  if  it  were  performed  in 
the  security  of  a  friendly  port.  Captain  Decatur  was 
a  strict  disciplinarian,  but,  unlike  the  British  com 
mander,  he  had  won  the  affection  of  his  crew.  Decatur 
was  simple  and  unaffected  in  his  bearing  toward  those 
around  him.  He  was  five  feet  ten  inches  high,  and 
had  a  somewhat  slender  figure,  a  long  face,  prominent, 
restless  eyes,  dark  skin,  and  black  hair.  He  is  de 
scribed  by  one  of  the  British  seamen  who  was  taken 
abroad  the  United  States  soon  after  the  Macedonian 
surrendered  as  "wearing  an  old  straw  hat  and  a  plain 
suit  of  clothes,  which  made  him  look  more  like  a 
farmer  than  a  naval  hero." 

An  incident  occurred  in  the  United  States  just  as 
she  was  about  to  engage  the  Macedonian  which  illus 
trates  the  enthusiasm  of  the  crew  and  their  unbounded 
confidence  in  Captain  Decatur.  A  lad,  named  Jack 
Creamer,  had  been  permitted  to  go  on  the  present 
cruise,  although  his  tender  age  disqualified  him  from 
regular  enlistment  in  the  American  service.  Cap  in 
hand,  he  timidly  approached  the  sacred  precincts  of 
the  quarter-deck,  where  Captain  Decatur,  surrounded 
by  his  aids,  was  intently  watching  the  approach  of  the 
British  frigate.  After  gaining  his  commander's  atten 
tion  the  boy  said:  "  Commodore,  will  you  please,  sir, 
have  my  name  put  down  on  the  muster  roll  ?  "  Being 
asked  the  reason  of  this  strange  request,  the  little  fellow 
replied,  "  So  I  can  draw  my  share  of  the  prize  money, 
sir."  The  far-sighted  young  financier  accordingly  had 
his  name  enrolled.  While  the  battle  was  in  progress, 


1812.        GALLANTRY  OF  THE  AMERICAN  OFFICERS.         389 

Captain  Decatur  visited  different  parts  of  the  ship, 
personally  inspecting  the  divisions  and  encouraging  his 
men.  Observing  that  the  enemy's  rigging  was  being 
cut  to  pieces,  he  remarked  to  the  captain  of  a  gun  on 
the  main  deck  :  "  Aim  at  that  yellow  streak  along  her 
side.  Her  spars  and  rigging  are  going  fast  enough ; 
she  must  have  a  little  more  hulling."  At  another  time 
an  American  gunner  noticing  the  mizzenmast  of  the 
British  frigate  fall  over  the  starboard  quarter,  said  to  a 
shipmate,  "Ay,  Bill,  we  have  made  a  brig  of  her." 
Overhearing  the  remark,  Captain  Decatur  replied, 
"  Take  good  aim,  my  lad,  and  she  will  be  a  sloop,"  and 
such  good  aim  did  they  take  that  her  main  topmast 
soon  went  over. 

Decatur  spoke  in  the  highest  terms  of  his  officers, 
and  especially  of  Lieutenants  Allen  and  John  Musser 
Funck.  The  latter  was  mortally  wounded,  and  died  a 
few  hours  after  the  battle.  The  names  of  the  officers 
of  the  United  States  in  this  action  are :  William 
Henry  Allen,  first  lieuteuant ;  John  Gallagher,  John 
Musser  Funck,  George  Campbell  Read,  Walter  Woos- 
ter  and  John  B.  Nicholson,  lieutenants ;  John  D. 
Sloat,  sailing-master ;  Samuel  R.  Trevitt,  surgeon  ;  Sam 
uel  Yernon,  surgeon's  mate  ;  John  B.  Timberlake,  pur 
ser  ;  William  Anderson,  James  L.  Edwards,  lieuten 
ants  of  marines ;  John  Stansbury,  Joseph  Cassin, 
Philip  Voorhees,  John  P.  Zantzinger,  Richard  Delphy, 
Dugan  Taylor,  Richard  S.  Heath,  Edward  F.  Ho  well, 
Archibald  Hamilton,  John  N.  Carr,  H.  Z.  W.  Harring 
ton,  William  Jamieson,.  Lewis  Hinchman  and  Benja 
min  S.  Williams,  midshipmen.  Thomas  Barry  was  the 
gunner. 

The  duration  of  this  action  is  a  subject  of  contro 
versy.  Captain  Decatur  merely  says  that  "after  an 
action  of  an  hour  and  a  half  "  the  Macedonian  struck. 
James  says  that  the  action  began  "  about  9h.  20m. 
A.M."  Concerning  its  termination  he  says:  "By  a 
few  minutes  past  11  A.  M."  the  Macedonian  was  com- 


390  THE  SECOND  FRIGATE  ACTION.  1812. 

pletely  wrecked,  and  "  owing  to  the  heavy  sea  and  her 
dismasted  state  she  rolled  her  main-deck  guns  under 
water,  while  the  United  States,  having  no  sail  that  she 
could  not  set  but  her  mizzen  topgallant  sail,  remained 
perfectly  steady."  This  very  clearly  shows  that  it 
would  have  been  impossible  for  the  Macedonian  at  a 
"  f ew  minutes  past  11  A.  M."  to  make  further  resist 
ance.  It  is  improbable  that  Captain  Garden  contem 
plated  such  a  course,  for,  from  the  moment  the  United 
States  ceased  firing,  a  "few  minutes  past  11  A.  M.,"  ac 
cording  to  Mr.  James,  until  she  returned  at  noon  to  re 
ceive  the  surrender  of  the  Macedonian,  the  latter  did 
not  make  the  slightest  resistance.  From  the  figures  of 
this  authority  it  appears  that  the  Macedonian  was 
beaten  in  about  one  hour  and  forty  minutes.  When 
we  make  allowance  for  Mr.  James'  bias  on  the  subject, 
we  find  that  his  "about  9h.  20m.  A.  M."and  by  a  "few 
minutes  past  11  A.  M."  practically  corroborates  Captain 
Decatur's  general  statement  that  the  action  lasted  one 
hour  and  thirty  minutes. 

The  Macedonian,  as  we  have  seen,  is  acknowledged 
by  English  writers  to  have  been  "one  of  the  finest 
frigates  in  the  British  navy."  She  was  not  built  of 
fir,  like  many  British  frigates  of  her  time,  but  was  of 
the  best  oak.  She  was  ten  feet  shorter  than  the  United 
States,  but  had  eight  inches  more  beam,  and  she  was 
of  the  "  same  class  as  the  Guerriere,"1  which  ship,  we 
are  told  by  James  himself,  was  rated  among  the  "]arge 
38s."  "  Such  was  the  confidence  of  victory  on  board 
the  Macedonian,  that  every  officer,  man  and  boy  was 
in  the  highest  spirits."  2  The  United  States  mounted 
thirty- two  long  24-pounders  and  twenty-two  short  42- 
pounders,  in  all  fifty-four  guns.  Deducting  the  seven 
per  cent  for  deficient  weight  of  American  metal,  we 
have  a  total  of  seven  hundred  and  eighty-seven  pounds 

1  Hughes'  History  of  England,  vol.  xiv,  p.  19. 

2  James'  History  of  the  British  Navy,  vol.  v,  p.  395. 


1812.  COMPARATIVE  FORCES.  391 

to  the  broadside.  The  Macedonian,  according  to  Eng 
lish  accounts,  carried  twenty-eight  long  18-potmders, 
eighteen  short  32-pounders,  one  long  12-pounder  and 
two  long  9-pounders,  giving  a  total  of  forty-nine  guns 
and  five  hundred  and  fifty-five  pounds  of  metal  to  the 
broadside.  Out  of  a  crew  of  two  hundred  and  ninety- 
seven,1  she  lost  thirty-six  killed  and  sixty-eight  wound 
ed,  among  the  latter  being  Third-Lieutenant  John  Bui- 
ford  and  three  midshipmen ; 2  total,  one  hundred  and 
four.  The  United  States,  out  of  her  crew  of  four  hun 
dred  and  seventy-eight,  lost  five  killed  and  seven 
wounded,3  two  of  the  wounded  afterward  dying,  mak 
ing  a  total  loss  of  twelve. 

Comparative  force  and  loss. 

Guns.     Lbs.      Crew.       Killed.  Wounded.    Total. 

United  States :      54     787      478          5  7          12     {    Time, 

Macedonian :         49      555      297        36  68        104     I  Ik.  30m. 

In  this  action  the  United  States  sustained  a  sur 
prisingly  small  amount  of  damage.  With  the  excep 
tion  of  her  mizzen  topgallantmast  her  spars  remained 
intact,  while  her  hull  was  struck  only  three  times.  The 
Macedonian,  on  the  other  hand,  was  completely  dis 
mantled,  so  that  "  with  the  profusion  of  stores  of  every 
sort  which  was  to  be  found  on  board  the  American 
frigate,  with  so  many  able  seamen  that  could  be  spared 
from  her  numerous  crew,  and  with  all  the  advantages 
that  a  fortnight's  calm  weather  gave,  it  took  the  whole 
of  that  time  to  place  the  prize  in  a  seaworthy  state— 
a  clear  proof  how  much  the  Macedonian  had  been 
shattered."4 

Although  the  Macedonian  had  been  captured,  she 
was  still  a  long  distance  from  an  American  port,  and 
had  to  ran  a  gantlet  of  British  cruisers  before  reach- 

1  James'  History  of  the  British  Navy,  vol.  v,  p.  398. 

2  Official  report  of  Captain  Garden. 

3  Official  report  of  Captain  Decatur. 

4  James'  History  of  the  British  Navy,  vol.  v,  p.  402. 


392  THE  SECOND  FRIGATE  ACTION.  1812. 

ing  the  American  coast.  First- Lieutenant  Allen,  of  the 
United  States ',  was  put  in  charge  of  her,  and  after 
nearly  two  weeks  spent  in  making  repairs  the  vessels 
took  up  their  course  toward  the  United  States.  Early 
in  December  they  sighted  the  coast  of  Rhode  Island, 
and  succeeded  in  evading  British  cruisers  stationed  at 
that  point ;  and  on  the  4th  of  December  they  arrived  in 
New  London  and  Newport,  whence  they  proceeded  to 
New  York  by  the  Hell  Gate  passage. 

As  might  be  expected,  the  rejoicings  occasioned  by 
the  news  of  this  second  naval  victory  raised  the  na 
tional  pride  to  a  dangerous  height.  Congress  voted 
Captain  Decatur  a  gold  medal,  and  to  each  of  his  offi 
cers  a  silver  one,  while  many  resolutions,  swords  and 
receptions  were  tendered  by  State  legislatures  and  mu 
nicipal  corporations.  The  Legislature  of  Virginia  pre 
sented  Lieutenants  William  Henry  Allen  and  John  B. 
Nicholson  with  swords,  and  the  former  was  promoted 
to  the  rank  of  master- commandant.  A  public  ball  was 
given  to  Captain  Decatur,  January  2,  1813,  at  Gibson's 
City  Hotel,  New  York,  and  the  decorations  on  that  oc 
casion  were  said  to  have  surpassed  anything  of  the 
kind  ever  attempted  before.  The  hall  had  the  appear 
ance  of  a  marine  palace.  Around  it  was  a  colonnade 
formed  of  the  masts  of  ships,  entwined  with  laurels  and 
bearing  the  flags  of  all  the  nations  of  the  world.  Five 
days  afterward  a  dinner  was  given  in  the  same  place 
and  with  the  same  decorations  to  the  crew  of  the  United 
States  by  the  Corporation  of  New  York  City,  but  the 
miniature  frigate  which  decorated  the  center  of  one  of  the 
tables  was  floated  in  grog  instead  of  water.  The  follow 
ing  account  of  this  banquet  is  given  by  an  eyewitness : 

uThe  crew  was  landed  at  New  Slip  precisely  at  two 
o'clock,  and  marched  in  good  order  through  Pearl  and 
Wall  Streets  and  Broadway,  preceded  by  a  band  of 
music  and  amid  the  loud  and  reiterated  huzzas  of  their 
fellow- citizens.  On  their  arrival  at  the  hotel  they  were 
ushered  into  the  room  by  the  committee  of  the  Cor- 


1812.  THE  BANQUET  OF  VICTORY.  393 

poration  and  took  their  seats  with  perfect  regularity 
at  the  call  of  the  boatswain-  s  whistle,  while  the 
band  struck  up  the  inspiring  tune  of  Yankee  Doodle. 
After  this,  a  handsome  address  was  delivered  by  Al 
derman  Vanderbilt,  to  which  the  boatswain  replied  in 
nearly  the  following  words  :  '  In  behalf  of  my  ship 
mates  I  return  our  sincere  thanks  to  the  Corporation  of 
the  City  of  New  York  for  the  honor  which  it  has  this 
day  done  us.  Rest  assured  that  it  will  be  always  our 
wish  to  deserve  the  good  opinion  of  our  countrymen.' 
When  the  boatswain  had  finished  this  reply,  his  ship 
mates,  in  token  of  their  approbation,  made  the  room 
ring  with  three  hearty  cheers.  At  this  moment  the 
mainsail  of  a  ship  forty-six  feet  wide  by  thirty-six  feet 
high,  which  had  been  hung  at  the  back  of  the  room, 
was  suddenly  furled  and  revealed  a  transparent  paint 
ing  exhibiting  our  three  glorious  naval  victories.  It  is 
impossible  for  pen  to  describe  the  scene  that  followed. 
All  the  fierce  enthusiasm  of  the  battle  they  had  recent 
ly  been  through  was  roused  again,  and,  jumping  on 
their  chairs  and  some  standing  on  the  table,  they  gave 
vent  to  three  savage  yells  of  victory.  For  a  few  min 
utes  the  din  was  deafening,  but  silence  finally  being 
secured  by  the  boatswain's  whistle,  the  crew  of  four 
hundred  and  more  men  began  to  lay  aboard  the  excel 
lent  dinner  in  true  man-of-war  style.  After  dinner  the 
boatswain  piped  for  silence,  when  the  president  gave 
the  following  toast :  '  American  ships  all  over  the 
ocean.'  Captain  Decatur  and  his  first  lieutenant,  Mr. 
Allen,  shortly  afterward  entered  the  room,  and  were  re 
ceived  by  the  seamen  in  a  manner  that  showed  how 
deep  and  sincere  was  their  affection  for  their  com 
mander.  Captain  Decatur  gave  the  following  toast : 
'Free  trade  and  no  impressment.'  After  their  com 
mander  had  retired,  a  variety  of  volunteer  toasts  was 
given  in  true  nautical  style,  and  at  six  o'clock  the  men, 
obedient  to  the  boatswain's  whistle,  adjourned  to  the 
theater.  The  jolly  tars  marched  in  regular  procession, 

28 


394:  THE  SECOND   FRIGATE   ACTION.  1812. 

in  compliance  with  an  invitation  from  the  managers. 
The  front  of  the  theater  was  illuminated,  and  exhib 
ited  a  transparency  of  the  engagement  between  the 
United  States  and  the  Macedonian.  The  house  was 
more  crowded  than  was  ever  known  before.  The  pit 
was  entirely  occupied  by  the  gallant  crew  of  the  frigate 
United  States." 

The  Macedonian  was  refitted,  and  in  the  following 
June  she  sailed  with  the  United  States,  Captain  Ste 
phen  Decatur,  and  the  Hornet,  Master-Commandant 
James  Biddle.  While  working  up  Long  Island  Sound 
the  United  States  was  struck  by  lightning  and  nar 
rowly  escaped  blowing  up.  The  bolt  shattered  the 
royal  mast,  bringing  down  Captain  Decatur' s  broad 
pennant,  and,  passing  along  the  conductor  on  the  out 
side  of  the  hull,  it  was  attracted  by  a  gun  into  one  of 
the  main -deck  ports  and  from  there  it  went  down  the 
wardroom  hatch,  skirting  the  magazine  scuttle,  entered 
the  surgeon's  room,  put  his  light  out,  tore  up  his  bed, 
and,  descending  between  the  side  and  the  ceiling,  it 
went  out  at  the  waters  edge,  tearing  away  a  portion  of 
the  copper.  At  that  moment  the  Macedonian  was  di 
rectly  astern  of  the  flagship,  and,  fearing  an  explosion, 
Captain  Jacob  Jones  threw  all  aback  ;  but  the  lightning 
caused  no  further  damage.  This  squadron,  however, 
had  scarcely  cleared  the  land  when  it  was  driven  back 
by  two  74-gun  ships  and  a  frigate,  and  taking  refuge  in 
New  London  it  was  blockaded  in  that  port  until  the 
close  of  the  war.  The  Hornet,  however,  managed  to 
get  to  sea  early  in  1815,  and  the  story  of  her  interesting 
cruise  will  be  told  in  another  chapter.  In  March,  1813, 
Captain  Garden  and  the  surviving  officers  and  men  of 
the  Macedonian  being  exchanged,  were  sent  to  Ber 
muda,  where  Captain  Garden  was  tried  by  court-martial 
for  the  loss  of  his  ship,  and  was  honorably  acquitted. 
On  the  17th  of  August,  1840,  he  was  made  a  rear-admi 
ral  of  the  Red.  The  colors  of  the  Macedonian  may  be 
seen  in  the  Naval  Institute  Building  at  Annapolis. 


CHAPTER  Y. 

THE   CONSTITUTION-JAVA   FIGHT. 

THE  result  of  the  first  and  second  actions  between 
American  and  English  frigates  and  the  enthusiasm 
aroused  by  this  arm  of  the  service  induced  the  Gov 
ernment  to  change  the  timorous  policy,  which  charac 
terized  it  at  the  beginning  of  hostilities,  to  a  bold  and 
far-reaching  plan  of  operations  on  the  high  seas.  Sev 
eral  expeditions  were  organized  with  a  view  of  striking 
the  enemy  in  distant  parts  of  the  globe  ;  and  by  having 
frigates  well  provisioned  for  long  cruises,  so  that  they 
would  not  be  obliged  to  put  into  port  except  at  unfre 
quented  places,  the  Americans  hoped  to  compel  the 
British  navy  to  spread  out  its  forces  and  to  draw  many 
of  its  cruisers  from  their  coast.  In  pursuance  of  this 
policy  a  squadron  was  fitted  out  under  the  command 
of  Captain  William  Bainbridge  with  orders  to  sail  for 
the  Indian  Ocean  and  to  cruise  against  English  com 
merce  in  the  East  Indies.  Captain  Bainbridge  was  one 
of  the  most  experienced  and  trusted  officers  in  the 
navy.  The  clever  artifice  by  which  he  saved  the  Nor 
folk  and  the  Montezuma  from  a  French  squadron  in 
1798,  his  subsequent  brilliant  career  as  commander  of 
the  Norfolk,  and  his  long  imprisonment  at  Guadeloupe 
and  Tripoli,  have  already  been  narrated.  His  squadron 
consisted  of  the  44-gun  frigate  Constitution,  flagship ; 
the  32-gun  frigate  Essex,  Captain  David  Porter ;  and 
the  18-gun  ship-sloop  Hornet,  Master-Commandant 
James  Lawrence.  The  Constitution  and  the  Hornet 
sailed  from  Boston  on  the  26th  of  October,  while  the 
Essex  put  to  sea  from  the  Delaware  two  days  earlier, 


396  THE  CONSTITUTION-JAVA   FIGHT.  1811. 

having  been  informed  about  various  places  at  which 
she  was  to  meet  the  other  ships. 

Seventeen  days  after  the  American  squadron  put  to 
sea  the  British  38-gun  frigate  Java,  Captain  Henry 
Lambert,  sailed  from  Portsmouth,  England,  for  India, 
having  under  her  protection  two  richly  laden  merchant 
ships.  The  Java,  formerly  the  40-gun  frigate  Re- 
nommee,1  was  captured  from  the  French  off  Madagas 
car  in  the  latter  part  of  February,  1811,  at  which  time, 
says  James,  she  was  a  "new  frigate "  and  "of  the  first 
class," 2  and  on  being  taken  into  the  British  navy  she  was 
named  Java.  At  the  time  of  sailing  on  her  long  voy 
age  for  India  she  had  received  a  thorough  overhauling 
and  was  newly  fitted.  She  was  laden  with  stores  for 
the  74-gun  ship  of  the  line  Cornwallis  and  the  10-gun 
sloops  of  war  Chameleon  and  Icarus,  then  fitting  at 
Bombay.  Captain  Lambert,  the  commander  of  the 
Java,  "one  of  our  most  distinguished  officers,"3  had  a 
high  reputation  for  seamanship.  He  entered  the  Brit 
ish  navy  as  a  midshipman  under  Admiral  Robert  Man, 
and  early  in  1798  he  sailed  in  the  frigate  Virginie  for 
the  East  Indies,  where  he  was  transferred  to  the  74-gun 
ship  of  the  line  Suffolk.  He  rose  rapidly  in  his  profes 
sion,  and  in  1804,  while  commanding  the  32-gun  frigate 
Wilhelmina,  gained  wide  celebrity  by  beating  off  the 
French  frigate-built  privateer  Psyche,  after  two  and  a 
half  hours  of  desperate  fighting.  The  Wilhelmina 
mounted  eighteen  9-pounders,  and  the  Psyche  twenty- 
four  12-pounders  and  ten  heavy  carronades.  In  the 
following  year  Captain  Lambert,  in  command  of  the 
frigate  St.  Fiorenzo,  after  a  long  chase  captured  the 
Psyche. 

But  Captain  Lambert  made  his  great  reputation  as 
commander  of  the  frigate  Iphigenia.  Having  under 


1  Allen's  Battles  of  the  British  Navy,  vol.  ii,  p.  359. 

2  Marshall's  Royal  Naval  Biography,  vol.  iv,  p.  834. 

3  Brenton's  History  of  the  English  Navy,  vol.  ii,  p.  46. 


1812. 


THE  JAVA  AND   HER  OFFICERS. 


397 


his  orders  the  frigates  Leopard  and  Magicienne,  the 
sloop  Sapphire  and  the  brig  Staunch,  he  blockaded 
the  Isles  of  France  and  Bourbon  during  the  hurricane 
months,  "  which  had  never  before  been  attempted."1 
Afterward  the  Iphigenia,  with  the  Magicienne,  the 
Sirius  and  the  Nereide,  made  a  daring  attack  on  the 
French  squadron  in  Grande  Port,  and  in  his  operations 
at  1'Isle  de  la  Passe  Captain  Lambert  showed  his  great 


Cape  of  Good  Hope 


Cruise  of  the  Constitution,  Hornet  and  Java. 

abilities  as  a  naval  officer,  and  in  August,  1812,  he  was 
placed  in  command  of  the  Java.  The  first  lieutenant 
of  the  Java,  Henry  Ducie  Chads,  was  also  an  officer  of 
no  mean  experience  and  reputation.  He  had  been  con 
spicuous  for  his  gallantry  in  the  affair  of  1'Isle  de  la 
Passe,  and  so  conscious  was  Captain  Lambert  of  the 
lieutenant's  ability  that  when  placed  in  command  of 


1  Marshall's  Royal  Naval  Biography,  vol.  v,  p.  238. 


398  THE  CONSTITUTION-JAVA  FIGHT.  1812. 

the  Java  he  especially  requested  that  Mr.  Chads,  then 
serving  in  the  Semiramis,  might  be  made  the  senior 
lieutenant  in  the  Java.  The  Java  had  as  passengers 
Lieutenant-General  Thomas  Hislop,  the  recently  ap 
pointed  Governor  of  India,  Captain  Wood,  Captain 
John  Marshall,  of  the  British  navy,  Major  Walker, 
James  Saunders,  a  lieutenant  in  the  navy,  and  one 
hundred  supernumeraries,  so  that  she  sailed  with  the 
distinction  of  having  two  navy  captains,  besides  other 
extra  sea  officers  whose  services  might  become  valuable 
in  case  she  met  an  enemy. 

In  due  time  the  Constitution  and  the  Hornet  ar 
rived  at  Port  Praya,  the  first  rendezvous,  but  nothing 
was  seen  of  the  Essex,  and  at  Fernando  de  Noronha 
Captain  Bainbridge  again  failed  to  meet  her.  In  order 
to  deceive  the  enemy  as  much  as  possible,  the  Constitu 
tion  and  the  Hornet  appeared  at  these  ports  under  the 
assumed  names  of  the  British  frigates  Acasta  and  Mbr- 
giana,  while  Captain  David  Porter  was  to  figure  as  Sir 
James  Yeo,  of  the  32-gun  frigate  Southampton.  De 
spairing  of  falling  in  with  the  Essex  at  these  places, 
Captain  Bainbridge  wrote  a  letter  containing  some  com 
monplace  matter,  and  on  the  back  of  it  wrote  in  "  sym 
pathetic  ink "  orders  for  the  future  movements  of  the 
Essex.  This  letter,  addressed  to  "  Sir  James  Yeo  of 
his  Britannic  Majesty's  ship  Southampton"  was  left  at 
the  last  rendezvous  to  await  the  arrival  of  Captain  Por 
ter,  while  the  Constitution  and  the  Hornet  made  for  the 
coast  of  Brazil,  preparatory  to  doubling  the  Cape  of 
Good  Hope,  and  arrived  off  Bahia  (St.  Salvador)  on  the 
13th  of  December.  Not  wishing  to  have  it  known  to 
the  people  on  shore  that  the  Constitution  was  there 
about,  Captain  Bainbridge  sent  the  Hornet  into  the 
harbor  to  communicate  with  the  American  consul,  Mr. 
Hill,  and  from  him  Master-Commandant  Lawrence 
learned  that  the  British  sloop  of  war  Bonne  Citoyenne, 
Captain  P.  B.  Greene,  was  in  port  and  was  about  to 
transport  a  large  amount  of  specie  to  England. 


1812.       THE  HORNET  AND  THE  BONNE  CITOYENNE.        399 

The  Bonne  Citoyenne  is  described  as  having  been 
"  one  of  the  finest  sloops  of  war  in  the  service."  It  was 
this  ship  that  had  created  such  a  "tempest  in  a  tea 
pot  "  a  few  years  before,  at  Gibraltar.  Lord  Dundonald 


JBahia. 

was  anxious  to  secure  the  command  of  her,  but  by  the 
influence  of  the  Admiralty  it  was  given  to  the  brother 
of  Lord  Keith's  secretary.1  She  carried  eighteen  short 
32-pounders  and  two  long  9-pounders.  In  August, 
1809,  after  an  action  of  seven  hours,  she  captured  la 
Furieuse,  "a  French  frigate  of  the  largest  class," 
having  her  "full  complement  of  officers  and  two  hun 
dred  seamen,  with  a  colonel,  two  lieutenants  and  a 
detachment  of  the  Sixty-sixth  Regiment  of  the  line."2 
La  Furieuse  carried  twelve  short  42-pounders,  two 
long  24-pounders  and  six  guns  of  a  smaller  caliber. 
Afterward  she  was  taken  into  the  British  navy  and 

1  Autobiography  of  Lord  Dundonald,  vol.  ii,  p.  92. 

2  Brenton's  History  of  the  English  Navy,  vol.  ii,  p.  258. 


4:00  THE  CONSTITUTION-JAVA  FIGHT.  1812. 

was  classed  as  a  36-gun  frigate.  The  Hornet  carried 
eighteen  short  32-pounders  and  two  long  12-pounders, 
which  made  her  equal  to  the  Bonne  Citoyenne  in 
weight  of  metal. 

Desirous  of  bringing  on  an  action  with  this  ship, 
Master-Commandant  Lawrence  sent  a  challenge  through 
the  American  consul  to  Captain  Greene,  pledging  on 
his  part  that  the  Constitution  would  sail  away  so  as 
to  make  it  impossible  for  her  to  interfere.  "  When  I 
last  saw  you  I  stated  to  you  my  wish  to  meet  the 
Bonne  Citoyenne,  and  authorized  you  to  make  my 
wish  known  to  Captain  Greene.  I  now  request  you  to 
state  to  him  that  I  will  be  pleased  to  come  out,  and 
pledge  my  honor  that  neither  the  Constitution  nor  any 
other  American  vessel  shall  interfere."  Captain  Bain- 
bridge  supplemented  this  letter  with  a  note  in  which 
he  said  :  "If  Captain  Greene  wishes  to  try  equal  force, 
I  pledge  my  honor  to  give  him  an  opportunity,  by  be 
ing  out  of  the  way  or  not  interfering."  But  Captain 
Greene  declined  the  challenge,  saying:  "  I  am  con 
vinced,  sir,  if  such  a  rencounter  were  to  take  place,  the 
result  could  not  long  be  dubious,  and  would  terminate 
favorably  to  the  ship  which  I  have  the  honor  to  com 
mand  ;  but  I  am  equally  convinced  that  Captain  Bain- 
bridge  could  not  swerve  so  much  from  the  duty  he 
owes  his  country  as  to  become  an  inactive  spectator, 
and  to  see  a  ship  belonging  to  the  very  squadron  under 
his  orders  fall  into  the  hands  of  an  enemy.  This  reason 
operates  powerfully  on  my  mind  for  not  exposing  the 
Bonne  Citoyenne  to  a  risk  upon  terms  so  manifestly 
disadvantageous  as  those  proposed  by  Captain  Bain- 
bridge.  Indeed,  nothing  could  give  me  greater  satis 
faction  than  complying  with  the  wishes  of  Master- 
Commandant  Lawrence,  and  I  earnestly  hope  that 
chance  will  afford  him  an  opportunity  of  meeting  the 
Bonne  Citoyenne  under  different  circumstances,  to  en 
able  him  to  distinguish  himself  in  the  manner  he  is 
now  so  desirous  of  doing.  I  further  assure  you  that 


1812.  THE  JAVA  SIGHTED.  401 

my  ship  will  at  all  times  be  prepared,  wherever  she 
may  be,  to  repel  any  attacks  made  against  her  and  I 
shall  also  act  offensively  whenever  I  judge  it  proper  to 
do  so."1  "To  make  him  easy  on  this  point,  Captain 
Bainbridge  left  the  Hornet  four  days  together  off  the 
harbor  in  which  the  Bonne  Citoyenne  lay,  and  from 
which  he  could  see  that  he  was  not  within  forty  miles. 
He  afterward  went  into  the  harbor  and  remained  there 
three  days,  where  he  might  have  been  detained  twenty- 
four  hours,  at  the  request  of  Captain  Greene,  if  dis 
posed  to  combat  the  Hornet. " 2  Finding  Captain  Greene 
determined  not  to  fight,  Master-Commandant  Lawrence 
rejoined  the  Constitution  in  the  offing,  resolved  at  all 
events  to  prevent  the  Bonne  Citoyenne  from  sailing  on 
her  intended  voyage  ;  and  on  the  26th  of  December  the 
Constitution,  leaving  the  Hornet  to  blockade  Captain 
Greene,  stood  out  to  sea. 

Four  days  after  Christmas,  while  the  Constitution 
was  about  thirty  miles  from  the  coast  in  latitude  13°  6' 
South,  longitude  38°  West,  the  wind  being  light  from 
the  east  by  northeast,  Captain  Bainbridge  discovered 
two  sails  on  his  weather  bow.  By  ten  o'clock  it  was 
seen  that  the  strangers  were  full-rigged  ships,  one 
standing  in  for  the  land,  while  the  other  was  making 
for  the  Constitution.  They  were  the  Java  and  her 
prize  the  American  merchant  ship  William,  which  she 
had  captured  two  weeks  before.  After  leaving  Spithead 
the  Java  touched  at  Port  Praya,  where  she  heard  that 
the  Essex  was  expected.  Soon  afterward  she  chased 
and  overhauled  the  William.  On  the  24th  of  Decem 
ber,  being  short  of  water  and  not  able  to  get  at  the 
supply  he  had,  on  account  of  the  heavy  articles  with 
which  the  hold  was  stowed,  Captain  Lambert  deter 
mined  to  touch  at  Bahia,  and  altered  his  course  ac 
cordingly  ;  but  the  two  Indiamen,  not  wishing  to  go 


1  Captain  Greene  to  the  British  consul,  Frederick  Landeman. 

2  Washington  Irving,  Spanish  Papers,  vol.  ii.  p.  42. 


402  THE  CONSTITUTION-JAVA  FIGHT.  1812. 

so  far  out  of  the  course,  continued  on  their  way.  At 
daylight,  December  29th,  the  Java  sighted  the  Bra 
zilian  coast  and  soon  afterward  descried  the  Consti 
tution,  Captain  Lambert  at  first  believing  her  to  be 
the  Essex. 

At  11  A.  M.  Captain  Bainbridge  took  in  his  royals 
and  tacked  to  the  southeast,  and  half  an  hour  later  he 
hoisted  the  private  signal  of  the  day,  but  finding  that 
it  was  not  answered  he  cleared  for  action.  Wishing  to 
draw  the  enemy  from  his  supposed  consort,  he  set  his 
mainsails  and  royals  and  stood  from  the  land.  At 
noon  he  showed  his  colors,  the  broad  pennant  at  the 
main,  the  Stars  and  Stripes  at  the  peak,  another  at  the 
main  topgallant  mast  and  the  American  jack  at  the 
fore.  At  12.15  P.  M.  the  enemy  hoisted  an  ensign  at 
the  mizzen  peak,  and  a  union  jack  at  the  mizzen  top 
gallant  masthead,  lashing  another  to  the  main  rigging, 
while  a  private  signal  was  made  at  the  masthead.  At 
1.06  P.  M.,  finding  that  the  enemy  had  "  the  advantage 
of  her  in  sailing,"  l  the  Constitution  took  in  her  main 
sail  and  royals,  went  about  and  stood  for  the  Eng 
lishman.  About  2  P.  M.  the  enemy  hauled  down  all 
his  colors  except  the  union  jack  at  the  mizzen  mast 
head.  At  this  time  he  was  about  a  mile  to  windward, 
when  Captain  Bainbridge  fired  a  gun  from  the  third 
division  of  his  main-deck  battery  across  the  Java's 
bow  in  order  to  induce  her  to  show  her  colors  again. 
The  shot  had  the  desired  effect,  the  enemy  immedi 
ately  rehoisting  all  his  flags  and  firing  a  broadside  in 
return.  Thereupon  the  Constitution  fired  her  port 
guns,  the  shot  splashing  the  water  harmlessly  against 
the  enemy's  hull. 

At  2.10  P.  M.,?  when  the  ships  were  half  a  mile  apart, 
the  Constitution  opened  fire  from  her  port  battery. 


1  Official  report  of  the  British  commander. 

2  Official  report  of  Captain  Bainbridge ;  also  official  report  of  the  Brit 
ish  commander. 


1812.  MANOEUVRING  FOR  CLOSE  QUARTERS.  403 

The  enemy  did  not  immediately  reply,  but  when  within 
pistol  shot  delivered  a  starboard  broadside.  The  two 
frigates  then  ran  along  side  by  side,  delivering  and 
receiving  a  tremendous  fire.  At  2.25  P.  M.  the  ships 
passed  each  other  on  opposite  tacks  and  shifted  their 
gun  crews.  Captain  Bainbridge  was  anxious  to  come 
to  close  quarters,  but  as  the  British  frigate  held  the 
weather  gage,  besides  having  the  superiority  in  sailing, 
in  the  prevailing  light  wind  he  could  not  do  this  with 
out  exposing  his  ship  to  a  raking  broadside.  About 
2.28  P.  M.  a  cannon  shot  smashed  the  Constitution' s 
wheel  into  splinters,  which  rendered  her  steering  ex 
tremely  difficult  throughout  the  rest  of  the  action,  and 
the  same  shot  drove  a  small  copper  bolt  into  Captain 
Bainbridge's  thigh,  inflicting  a  painful  wound.  A  short 
time  before  this  he  had  been  injured  by  a  musket  ball, 
but  fearful  of  dampening  the  ardor  of  his  crew  by 
going  below,  he  kept  the  quarter-deck  and  continued 
to  direct  the  battle.  He  was  a  man  of  imposing  build, 
and  when  aroused  to  action  his  manner  inspired  con 
fidence  and  enthusiasm  in  all  around  him.  He  was 
about  six  feet  high,  with  a  well-proportioned,  muscular 
frame,  and  had  an  unusually  piercing  eye.  He  was 
severe  in  discipline,  but  tempered  it  with  much  con 
sideration  for  the  men.  The  loss  of  the  wheel  was  a 
serious  mishap,  as  the  English  vessel,  being  strongly 
manned,  was  handled  with  great  dexterity ;  this,  to 
gether  with  her  superiority  of  sailing,  made  her  a  nim 
ble  and  dangerous  foe.  The  enemy  took  advantage  of 
the  situation  by  endeavoring  to  rake,  which  caused  a 
succession  of  rapid  manoeuvres,  so  that  in  a  short  time 
the  ships  were  several  miles  to  leeward  of  the  point 
where  they  first  came  into  action.  After  the  loss  of 
the  wheel  the  Americans  worked  the  tiller  by  means  of 
tackles  two  decks  below,  which  made  it  exceedingly 
awkward,  because  the  men  at  the  tiller  could  not  see 
the  sails,  and  orders  had  to  be  transmitted  by  a  line  of 
midshipmen,  making  them  peculiarly  liable  to  confu- 


404:  THE  CONSTITUTION-JAVA  FIGHT.  1812. 

sion.  About  2.30  the  Java  succeeded  in  running  across 
the  Constitution's  stern  and  poured  in  a  raking  broad 
side,  but  in  so  doing  relinquished  the  weather  gage. 
Captain  Bainbridge,  however,  did  not  avail  himself  of 
this  advantage,  but  ran  with  the  wind  free  on  the  port 
tack.  The  Java  quickly  luffed  up  and  again  raked 
with  her  starboard  guns,  but  at  too  great  a  distance  to 
be  effective. 

At  2.40  P.  M.  Captain  Bainbridge  determined  to 
come  to  close  quarters  at  any  cost,  and  setting  his  fore 
and  main  sails  he  boldly  headed  his  frigate  for  the 
enemy,  exposing  her  to  a  fore-and-aft  fire.  But  for 
some  unexplained  reason  the  British  did  not  improve 
their  opportunity,  and  when  broadsides  should  have 
raked  the  Constitution  from  stem  to  stern,  only  one 
9-pounder  was  discharged.  Having  brought  his  ship 
into  close  quarters,  Captain  Bainbridge  opened  afresh 
from  the  starboard  battery.  The  effect  of  the  Ameri 
can  guns  at  close  quarters  was  dreadful.  In  a  few 
minutes  the  enemy  lost  his  jib  boom  and  bowsprit, 
while  his  running  rigging  was  so  injured  as  to  deprive 
him  of  the  superiority  of  sailing  for  the  rest  of  the 
action.  Availing  herself  of  this  advantage,  the  Consti 
tution  wore  in  the  smoke,  and  the  Englishmen  did  not 
discover  the  manoeuvre  until  it  was  nearly  completed, 
when  they  hove  in  stays,  hoping  to  get  around  quickly 
enough  to  avoid  a  raking.  But  their  ship,  having  lost 
her  bowsprit  and  jib  boom,  hung  a  long  time  and  re 
ceived  from  the  American,  not  more  than  two  cables' 
lengths  off,  a  disastrous  fire  which  sw^ept  their  decks 
fore  and  aft.  The  Constitution  now  took  a  position  off 
her  opponent's  bow  and  poured  in  a  diagonal  fire,  so 
that  at  3.05  P.  M.  the  enemy's  foremast  was  carried 
away  by  the  board,  and  in  falling  it  passed  through 
the  forecastle  and  main  deck. 

Finding  that  his  situation  was  becoming  desperate, 
the  British  commander  made  an  attempt  to  board,  but 
owing  to  the  dismantled  condition  of  his  ship  he  was 


1812.  THE   CALL  FOR  BOARDERS.  405 

unable  to  do  so.  His  foremast  had  fallen  over  the 
forecastle  and  encumbered  many  of  the  guns  on  the 
main  deck,  his  maintopmast  fell  soon  afterward,  shot 
away  just  above  the  cap,  the  stump  of  his  bowsprit  was 
carried  away,  and  fifteen  minutes  later  his  gaff  and 
spanker  boom  went  over  the  side.  The  ships  were  so 
close  together  at  this  moment  that  the  remains  of  the 
enemy's  bowsprit,  passing  over  the  Constitution's  stern, 
became  entangled  with  the  starboard  mizzen  rigging,  so 
that  the  Englishman  was  forced  up  to  the  wind.  At 
the  time  the  enemy  was  expected  to  board,  Lieutenant 
John  C.  Alwyn,  who  had  been  sailing-master  in  the 
Constitution  during  her  action  with  the  Guerriere  and 
had  been  promoted  for  his  gallantry  on  that  occasion, 
promptly  answered  to  the  call  for  boarders,  and  when 
on  the  quarter-deck  hammock  cloths,  in  the  act  of  dis 
charging  his  pistol,  he  received  a  ball  through  the 
same  shoulder  that  had  been  injured  in  the  action  with 
the  Guerriere.  Although  suffering  great  pain,  he  re 
mained  at  his  post  till  the  close  of  the  battle.  Shortly 
after  Lieutenant  Alwyn  fell,  a  marine  in  the  Constitu 
tion's  maintop,  observing  the  British  commander,  shot 
him  through  the  breast.  The  Java? s  surgeon,  Thomas 
Cooke  Jones,  says:  "I  saw  him  [Captain  Lambert] 
almost  immediately  afterward,  and  found  that  the  ball 
had  entered  his  left  side  under  the  clavicle,  fracturing 
the  first  rib,  the  splinters  of  which  had  severely  lacer 
ated  the  lungs.  I  put  my  finger  in  the  wound,  de 
tached  and  extricated  several  pieces  of  the  bone.  He 
said  that  he  felt  no  annoyance  from  the  wound  in  his 
breast,  but  complained  of  pain  extending  the  whole 
length  of  his  spine."  The  command  of  the  Java  now 
devolved  on  Lieutenant  Chads,  who,  with  the  assistance 
of  Captain  John  Marshall,  Lieutenant  James  Saunders 
and  other  officers  who  were  in  the  frigate  as  passengers, 
continued  the  battle  with  great  bravery. 

By  3.30  P.  M.  the  fire  of  the  British  frigate  had  per 
ceptibly  slackened,  although  the  guns  that  were  still 


406  THE  CONSTITUTION-JAVA  FIGHT.  1812. 

mounted  were  handled  with  spirit.  At  3.55  p.  M.  Cap 
tain  Bainbridge  had  the  satisfaction  of  seeing  his  an 
tagonist's  mizzenmast  go  by  the  board,  and  the  wreck 
hanging  over  the  engaged  side  caught  fire  from  the 
enemy's  own  guns.  From  3.30  p.  M.  until  the  Java's 
mizzenmast  went  over,  the  Constitution  i  i  lay  on  our 
starboard  quarter,  pouring  in  a  tremendous,  galling  fire, 
while  on  our  side  we  could  never  get  more  than  two  or 
three  guns  to  bear,  and  frequently  none  at  all."1  At 
4.05  P.  M.  the  English  frigate  was  "  an  unmanageable 
wreck."2  Her  fire  for  some  time  had  ceased,  six  of 
her  quarter-deck  guns,  four  on  her  forecastle  and  many 
on  the  main  deck  were  disabled  by  the  wreck  of  her 
masts  hanging  over  them,  her  fore  and  mizzen  masts 
and  bowsprit  were  carried  away,  her  mainmast  was 
tottering  and  no  flag  was  visible.  "  Having  effectually 
done  her  work  "  the  Constitution  drew  away  to  repair 
her  rigging,  which  was  considerably  damaged,  leaving 
"  us  a  perfect  wreck,  with  only  our  mainmast  standing 
and  the  main  yards  gone  in  the  slings.  Every  exertion 
was  made  by  us  during  this  interval  to  place  the  ship 
in  a  state  to  renew  the  action.  We  succeeded  in  clear 
ing  the  wreck  of  our  masts  from  the  guns,  and  endeav 
ored  to  get  before  the  wind  by  setting  sails  on  the 
stumps  of  the  bowsprit  and  foremast.  Got  the  main 
tack  forward,  the  weather  yardarm  remaining  aloft ; 
cleared  away  the  booms,  and  got  #  topgallantmast  out 
and  commenced  rigging  it  for  a  jury  foremast,  intend 
ing  to  set  a  lower  steering  sail  for  a  foresail.  Before 
we  could  get  this  accomplished  we  were  obliged  to  cut 
away  the  mainmast  to  prevent  its  falling  inboard  from 
the  heavy  rolling  of  the  ship."  3 

Seeing  that  the  American  frigate  was  out  of  gun 
shot,  engaged  in  repairing  her  rigging,  the  surviving 

1  Subsequent  account  of  Lieutenant  Chads. 

2  Official  report  of  the  British  commander. 

3  Subsequent  account  of  Lieutenant  Chads. 


OF  THK 


'     X^  Ur       iXir,  ^  j- 

•giSlIVERSlTY  J 


1812.  THE  JAVA'S  CREW.  407 

Englishmen  tacked  a  flag  to  the  stump  of  their  miz- 
zenmast  and  rigged  a  square  sail  to  the  wreck  of  the 
foremast,  so  that  they  could  report  to  the  Admiralty, 
"  We  still  awaited  the  attack  of  the  enemy."  "  The 
enemy,"  in  the  meantime,  having  spliced  her  rigging, 
with  all  her  masts  sound,  with  every  gun  in  place  and 
reloaded,  bore  down  at  5.25  P.  M.  on  the  wreck.  Here 
upon  the  surviving  Englishmen  seemed  to  think  better 
of  their  resolution  to  "  await  the  attack  of  the  enemy," 
for  they  struck  at  the  first  summons.  At  this  moment 
John  Cheever,  one  of  the  American  seamen  who  had 
been  mortally  wounded  in  the  action,  hearing  that  the 
cenemy  had  struck,  raised  himself  with  one  hand, 
and,  giving  three  feeble  cheers,  expired.  His  brother, 
Joseph  P.  Cheever,  also  was  killed  in  this  battle.  Im 
mediately  upon  the  surrender  of  the  enemy,  First- 
Lieutenant  George  Parker,  of  the  Constitution,  was 
sent  aboard  to  take  possession.  On  sighting  the 
American  frigate,  the  Java's  prize,  the  William, 
made  directly  for  Bahia  and  was  captured  by  the 
Hornet. 

By  placing  twenty  men  in  the  William,  the  Java's. 
crew,  at  the  time  of  her  action  with  the  Constitution, 
according  to  English  accounts,  was  reduced  to  three 
hundred  and  seventy-seven  men,  including  the  super 
numerary  list.  That  the  Java's  passengers  were  ac 
tively  engaged  in  the  fight  is  seen  in  Lieutenant 
Chads'  official  report,  w|en  he  says  :  "  To  Captain  John 
Marshall,  of  the  royal  ijavy,  who  was  a  passenger,  I 
am  particularly  obliged"'  for  his  exertions  and  advice 
throughout  the  action.  Lieutenant-General  Hislop, 
Major  Walker  and  Captain  Wood  of  his  staff,  the  lat 
ter  of  whom  was  wounded,  were  solicitous  to  assist 
and  remained  on  the  quarter-deck."  James  Saunders, 
another  passenger  and  a  lieutenant  in  the  royal  navy, 
commanded  the  forecastle.  But  there  are  reasons  for 
believing  that  the  Java  carried  more  men  than  the 
English  accounts  give  her.  Captain  Bainbridge  re- 

29 


408  THE  CONSTITUTION-JAVA  FIGHT.  1812-1813. 

ported  that  he  released  on  parole  three  hundred  and 
sixty-one  officers,  seamen,  marines  and  boys,  besides 
eight  passengers  and  nine  Portuguese  seamen,  making 
three  hundred  and  seventy-eight  people  in  the  ship. 
The  Java's  losses  are  admitted  to  have  been  twenty- 
two  killed  and  one  hundred  and  two  wounded.  Add 
ing  the  number  of  killed  to  the  number  of  prisoners 
released  on  parole  by  Captain  Bainbridge,  we  have 
four  hundred.  After  the  action  the  Java's  muster 
roll,  bearing  the  date  of  November  17,  1812,  was  dis 
covered,  which  showed  that  four  hundred  and  forty- 
six  persons  were  in  her  when  she  sailed  from  England, 
twenty  of  whom  were  put  in  the  William,  thus  leav 
ing  the  Java  at  the  time  of  the  action  with  four  hun 
dred  and  twenty-six  souls. 

The  number  of  the  Java's  killed  and  wounded  as 
given  in  the  official  report  of  Lieutenant  Chads  also  is 
open  to  question.  A  letter  was  found  in  the  Constitu 
tion  after  the  prisoners  were  landed,  addressed  to 
Lieutenant  Peter  Y.  Wood,  Twenty-second  Eegiment, 
foot,  signed  by  Lieutenant  H.  D.  Carnick  and  dated 
January  1,  1813,  which  said  that  sixty  were  killed  and 
one  hundred  and  seventy  were  wounded.  After  refer 
ring  to  the  death  of  a  friend,  Lieutenant  Carnick  adds : 
uFour  others  of  my  messmates  shared  the  same  fate, 
together  with  sixty  killed  and  one  hundred  and  seventy 
wounded."  As  Lieutenant  Carnick  could  not  have 
had  so  good  an  opportunity  for  estimating  the  Java's 
loss  as  Captain  Bainbridge  had — which  remark  applies 
equally  to  Lieutenant  Chads — we  are  justified  in  accept 
ing  Captain  Bainbridge's  statement  of  the  Java's  loss, 
which  is  the  mean  between  the  British  accounts,  as 
follows  :  sixty  killed  and  one  hundred  and  one  wound 
ed.  Among  the  latter  were  First-Lieutenant  Chads, 
Mr.  Robertson  the  sailing-master  and  Lieutenant  Davis, 
of  the  marines.  The  Constitution's  complement  num 
bered  four  hundred  and  eighty,  of  whom  she  lost  nine 
killed  and  twenty -five  wounded. 


1812.  COMPARATIVE  FORCES.  409 

The  official  reports  on  both  sides  agree  that  this 
third  frigate  action  began  at  2.10  P.  M.  At  4.05  p.  M.,1 
when  the  Constitution  left  the  Java,  the  latter  was  a 
"  perfect  wreck,  with  only  her  mainmast  standing,  and 
that  tottering,  her  main  yard  gone  in  the  slings,  and  the 
muzzles  of  her  guns  dipping  in  the  water  from  the 
heavy  rolling  of  the  ship  in  consequence  of  her  dis 
masted  state." 2  On  the  other  hand,  "  considering  that 
the  loss  of  her  [the  Constitution's]  main  topsail  yards, 
with  some  cut  rigging,  was  the  only  injury  she  had 
sustained,"  there  can  be  no  doubt  that  the  Java  at 
this  time  was  incapable  of  making  further  resistance. 
This  determines  the  duration  of  the  action  at  one  hun 
dred  and  fifteen  minutes  by  Captain  Bainbridge's  fig 
ures,  one  hundred  and  thirty-five  by  James',  and  one 
hundred  and  forty-five  according  to  Lieutenant  Chads. 

Since  her  engagement  with  the  Guerriere,  the 
Constitution  had  changed  her  armament  so  that  she 
now  carried  thirty-two  long  24-pounders  and  twenty- 
two  short  42-pounders,  a  total  of  fifty-four  guns,  ag 
gregating  seven  hundred  and  eighty- seven  pounds  of 
metal,  after  deducting  seven  per  cent  for  deficiency  in 
the  weight  of  American  shot,  to  the  broadside.  For 
reasons  given  in  the  introduction,  the  Java  will  be  con 
sidered  as  still  mounting  her  French  guns.  According 
to  English  authorities,  she  carried  on  this  occasion 
twenty-eight  long  18-pounders,  sixteen  short  32-pound- 
ers,  two  long  9-pounders,  and  one  short  18-pounder, 
giving  a  total  of  forty-seven  guns  and  five  hundred  and 
sixty-eight  English  pounds  of  metal  to  the  broadside. 

Comparative  force  and  loss. 

Guns.      Lbs.        Crew.        Killed.  Wounded.     Total. 

Constitution :     54      787       480  9          25  34  (      Time 

Java :  47      568       426         60        101          161  (  Ih.  55m. 


1  Journal  of  Captain  Bainbridge.     Lieutenant  Chads  gives  it  at  4.35 
p.  M.,  while  James  says  4.25  p.  M. 

2  James'  History  of  the  British  Navy,  vol.  v,  p.  414. 


410  THE  CONSTITUTION-JAVA  FIGHT.  1812. 

With  the  exception  of  her  main  topsail  yard  the 
Constitution  came  out  of  the  action  with  her  royal 
yards  across,  and  every  spar,  from  the  highest  to  the 
lowest,  in  place,  while  the  injuries  to  her  hull  were 
trifling.  Her  rigging  was  considerably  cut  up,  but  her 
masts  and  spars,  although  wounded,  did  not  even  re 
quire  fishing.  One  18-pound  shot  passed  through  her 
mizzenmast,  her  foremast  was  slightly  wounded,  while 
the  mainmast  was  untouched.  The  Java,  which,  as 
compared  with  the  Constitution,  was  a  new  frigate, 
was  "totally  dismasted."1  Stick  after  stick  had  been 
shot  out  of  her  until  nothing  was  left  but  a  few  stumps. 
The  foremast  had  been  shot  away  twice,  once  near  the 
cat-harpings  and  again  much  nearer  the  deck.  She 
was  so  shattered  that  it  was  impossible  to  get  her  even 
to  Bahia,  and  on  the  following  day  she  was  blown  up. 
On  the  same  day  that  this  battle  was  fought  and  at 
the  precise  hour  when  the  Java  lay  a  rolling  hulk  on 
the  ocean,  and  the  crew  of  the  Constitution  were  busily 
engaged  washing  the  blood  stains  from  the  decks  with 
hot  vinegar,  or  attending  to  the  wounded,  burying  the 
dead  and  putting  the  ship  in  order  for  action  again, 
five  hundred  men  sat  down  to  a  banquet  at  Gibson's 
City  Hotel,  New  York  city,  over  which  De  Witt  Clin 
ton  presided,  in  honor  of  the  victories  of  Captain  Isaac 
Hull,  Captain  Stephen  Decatur  and  Master-Comman 
dant  Jacob  Jones. 

A  short  time  before  the  Java  was  blown  up  Captain 
Lambert,  who  had  been  delirious  during  the  night  from 
his  dreadful  wound,  was  removed  from  his  cabin  and 
taken  aboard  the  Constitution.  This  removal  was  at 
tended  with  much  difficulty,  for,  although  the  two  frig 
ates  lay  near  together,  the  seas  were  running  high  and 
the  boat  in  which  the  wounded  veteran  was  placed  was 
tossed  about  in  an  alarming  manner.  The  short  passage 
from  the  wreck  to  the  American  frigate  was  watched 

1  Allen's  Battles  of  the  British  Navy,  vol.  ii,  p.  414. 


1812-1813.  LAMBERT'S  DEATH. 

with  painful  interest  by  the  survivors  in  both  ships,  and 
when  the  boat  finally  came  under  the  Constitutions  lee 
and  the  delirious  Lambert  was  tenderly  lifted  aboard  a 
sigh  of  relief  escaped  many.  The  day  after  the  arrival 
of  the  Constitution  in  Bahia  a  touching  interview  took 
place  on  the  quarter-deck  of  the  American  frigate  be 
tween  Captain  Bainbridge  and  Captain  Lambert.  The 
British  commander  was  lying  in  his  cot  under  the  shade 
of  an  awning  when  Captain  Bainbridge,  who  was  still  in 
a  critical  condition  from  his  wound,  approached,  sup 
ported  by  two  of  his  officers,  and  returned  the  sword 
to  the  dying  Englishman.  This  meeting  of  the  two 
heroes  left  a  kindlier  feeling  between  their  crews.  In 
January  Captain  Lambert  was  landed  at  Bahia,  where 
more  comfortable  quarters  were  provided  for  him. 
He  lingered  several  days,  delirious,  and  muttering  in 
coherently  about  the  loss  of  his  ship.  "Our  unhappy 
situation  seemed  to  produce  reflections  which  entered 
uppermost  in  his  discordant  mind,  on  which  he  raved 
till  he  was  completely  exhausted.  At  night  [of  the 
fifth  day]  he  became  totally  insensible  and  fell  into 
a  disturbed  slumber.  The  organs  of  respiration  per 
formed  their  office  with  difficulty ;  at  every  gasp  the 
air  issued  from  the  wound  with  a  peculiar  noise ;  his 
pulse  grew  faint,  and  a  few  minutes  before  ten  o'clock 
he  breathed  his  last."1 

The  characteristic  kindness  of  the  American  offi 
cers  brought  forth  the  following  letter  from  Lieu 
tenant  -  General  Hislop  to  Captain  Bainbridge:  "I 
am  justly  penetrated  with  the  fullest  sense  of  your 
very  handsome  and  kind  treatment  ever  since  the 
fate  of  war  placed  me  in  your  power,  and  I  beg 
once  more  to  renew  to  you  my  sincere  acknowledg 
ments  for  the  same."  In  his  official  report  to  the 
Admiralty,  Lieutenant  Chads  wrote:  "lean  not  con 
clude  this  letter  without  expressing  my  grateful  ac- 

1  Letter  of  Thomas  Cooke  Jones,  the  Java's  surgeon. 


412  THE  CONSTITUTION-JAVA  FIGHT.  1812-1813. 

knowledgments  thus  publicly  for  the  generous  treat 
ment  Captain  Lambert  and  his  officers  have  experi 
enced  from  our  gallant  enemy  Captain  Bainbridge  and 
his  officers." 

Captain  Bainbridge  spoke  in  the  highest  terms  of 
the  conduct  of  his  officers  and  men  who  were  engaged 
in  this  action.  He  said :  "  Should  I  attempt  to  do  jus 
tice  by  representations  of  the  brave  and  good  conduct 
of  all  my  officers  and  crew  during  the  action,  I  should 
fail  in  the  attempt ;  therefore  suffice  it  to  say,  that  the 
whole  of  their  conduct  was  such  as  to  merit  my  highest 
encomiums.  I  beg  leave  to  recommend  the  officers 
particularly  to  the  notice  of  the  Government,  and  also 
the  unfortunate  seamen  who  were  wounded  and  the 
families  of  those  who  fell  in  the  action."  A  few  days 
later,  on  the  appearance  of  a  strange  ship,  all  hands 
were  called  to  quarters  in  the  expectation  of  a  battle, 
and  Lieutenant  Alwyn,  although  desperately  wounded 
in  the  action  with  the  Java,  left  his  bed  and  repaired 
to  his  station.  The  ship,  however,  turned  out  to  be 
the  Hornet.  He  died  at  sea  from  the  effect  of  his  in 
juries,  January  28th.  The  officers  of  the  Constitution 
in  this  action  were :  George  Parker,  first  lieutenant ; 
Beekman  Verplank  Hoffman,  second  lieutenant ;  John 
Templer  Shubrick,  third  lieutenant ;  Charles  W.  Mor 
gan,  fourth  lieutenant ;  John  C.  Alwyn,  junior  lieuten 
ant;  John  Nichols,  sailing-master;  John  Carleton, 
chaplain  ;  John  Contee  and  William  H.  Freeman,  lieu 
tenants  of  marines ;  Amos  A.  Evans,  surgeon ;  John 
D.  Armstrong  and  Donaldson  Yeates,  surgeon's  mates  ; 
Robert  C.  Ludlow,  purser ;  Thomas  A.  Beatty,  Lewis 
German,  William  L.  Gordon,  Ambrose  D.  Fields, 
Frederick  Baury,  Joseph  Cross,  Alexander  Belcher, 
William  Taylor,  Alexander  Eskridge,  James  W.  De- 
lancy,  James  Greenlaw,  William  D.  M'Carty,  Z.  W. 
Nixon,  John  A.  Wish,  Dulaney  Forrest,  George  H. 
Leverett,  Henry  Ward,  John  C.  Long,  John  H.  Packett 
and  Richard  Winter,  midshipmen.  Peter  Adams  was 


1813.  THE  CONSTITUTION  HOMEWARD  BOUND.  413 

boatswain,  Ezekiel  Darling  gunner  and  John  C.  Cum- 
ings  acting  midshipman. 

Believing  it  to  be  advisable  to  postpone  the  cruise 
in  the  Bast  Indies,  as  the  Essex  failed  to  appear, 
Captain  Bainbridge,  after  landing  his  prisoners  at 
Bahia,  sailed  for  the  United  States  on  the  6th  of  Janu 
ary,  1813,  and  on  the  27th  of  February  he  arrived  in 
Boston.  Congress  voted  fifty  thousand  dollars  to  the 
officers  and.  crew  of  the  Constitution  as  prize  money, 
and  a  gold  medal  to  Captain  Bainbridge  and  a  silver 
one  to  each  of  his  officers.  The  fifty  thousand  dollars 
was  divided  into  twenty  equal  parts,  as  follows  :  Three 
parts  to  the  captain ;  two  parts  to  the  sea  lieutenants 
and  sailing-master ;  two  parts  to  the  marine  officers, 
surgeon,  purser,  boatswain,  gunner,  carpenter,  master's 
mates  and  chaplain  ;  three  parts  to  the  midshipmen, 
surgeon's  mates,  captain's  clerks,  schoolmaster,  boat 
swain's  mates,  gunner's  mates,  carpenter's  mates,  stew 
ard,  sailmaker,  master-at-arms,  armorer  and  coxswains  ; 
three  parts  among  the  gunner's  yeomen,  boatswain's 
yoemen,  quartermasters,  quarter  gunners,  coopers, 
sailmaker's  mates,  sergeants  and  corporals  of  the  ma 
rines,  drummer,  fifer  and  extra  petty  officers  ;  seven 
parts  among  the  seamen,  ordinary  seamen,  marines  and 
boys. 

The  following  account  of  Captain  Bainbridge's  re 
ception  in  Boston  after  his  victory  over  the  Java  is 
taken  from  a  paper  of  that  day:  "On  the  Thursday 
following  his  arrival  Captain  Bainbridge  landed  at 
Long  Wharf  amid  loud  acclamations  and  roaring  of 
cannon  from  the  shore.  All  the  way  from  the  end  of 
the  pier  to  the  Exchange  Coffee  House  was  decorated 
with  colors  and  streamers.  A  procession  was  formed 
in  Faneuil  Hall  by  Major  Tilden  and  was  escorted  by 
the  Boston  Light  Infantry  and  the  Winslow  Blues. 
Decorations  and  streamers  were  strung  across  State 
Street,  while  the  windows  and  the  tops  of  the  houses 
were  filled  with  spectators.  Captain  Bainbridge  was 


414:  THE  CONSTITUTION-JAVA   FIGHT.  1813. 

distinguished  by  his  noble  figure  and  by  his  walking 
uncovered.  On  his  right  hand  was  the  veteran  Cap 
tain  Rodgers,  and  on  his  left  Brigadier-General  Welles  ; 
then  followed  the  brave  Captain  Hull,  Colonel  Blake 
and  a  number  of  officers  and  citizens.  But  the  crowd 
was  so  immense  that  it  was  difficult  to  keep  the  order 
of  the  procession.  The  band  of  music  in  the  balcony 
of  the  State  Bank  and  the  music  of  the  New  England 
Guards  had  a  fine  effect.  On  the  2d  of  March  a  splen 
did  public  dinner  was  given  in  the  Exchange  Coffee 
House  to  Captain  Bainbridge  and  his  officers.  The  pro 
cession  was  formed  at  Faneuil  Hall  and  was  escorted 
amid  the  applause  of  the  citizens  by  a  battalion  com 
posed  of  the  Boston  Light  Infantry  and  the  Winslow 
Blues,  commanded  by  Colonel  Sargeant.  Before  sit 
ting  down  to  the  table  the  blessing  of  Almighty  God 
was  asked  in  a  most  impressive  manner  by  the  Rev. 
Mr.  Holley."  The  crew  of  the  Constitution  was  treat 
ed  to  a  theatrical  entertainment  on  the  9th  of  April. 
The  City  Council  of  Charleston,  South  Carolina,  ap 
pointed  March  8th  as  a  day  of  rejoicing  in  honor  of 
American  naval  victories,  and  the  day  was  ushered  in 
with  the  ringing  of  bells  and  firing  of  cannon.  All 
business  was  suspended,  and  the  day  was  given  up  to 
processions,  banquets  and  oratory. 

On  arriving  in  Boston  the  Constitution  was  found 
to  be  in  need  of  extensive  repairs,  but  by  the  time 
these  were  completed  the  port  was  blockaded  by  a 
powerful  British  squadron,  so  it  was  not  until  the 
winter  of  1814-15  that  Old  Ironsides  again  got  to 
sea.  The  colors  of  the  Java  are  preserved  in  the 
Naval  Institute  Building  at  Annapolis.  The  surviv 
ing  officers  and  crew  of  the  Java  were  embarked  in 
two  cartels  that  sailed  from  Brazil  for  England  shortly 
after  the  Constitution  returned  to  the  United  States, 
and  on  being  tried  by  court-martial  for  the  loss  of 
the  Java,  April  23,  1813,  they  were  "most  honorably 
acquitted." 


1812.         EFFECT  OF  AMERICAN  NAVAL  VICTORIES.          415 

Chads,  after  this  battle,  and  possibly  before  it,  al 
ways  had  a  high  opinion  of  the  American  seaman.  In 
later  years,  when  he  was  Sir  Henry,  he  was  wont  to 
declare  that  of  all  the  many  brave  men  he  had  met 
in  the  course  of  a  career  which  for  thirty  years  had 
been  a  series  of  hard  fights,  dangerous  expeditions 
and  exciting  events,  the  bravest  was  an  American 
sailor  named  Reed.  Reed  was  a  gunner  in  the  Consti 
tution  in  her  action  with  the  Java.  Some  years  after 
ward  he  turned  up  in  the  East  Indies,  where  Chads 
commanded  the  British  frigate  Andromache,  and  en 
listed  in  that  ship.  Chads  selected  Reed  as  chief  gun 
ner  in  a  boat  expedition  against  the  Malay  pirates ; 
and  in  the  succession  of  hand-to-hand  fights  Reed 
conducted  himself  with  extraordinary  coolness  and 
bravery,  saving  a  midshipman's  life  on  one  occasion 
by  warding  off  a  kriss-thrust,  and  at  another  time 
drowning  a  Malay  in  a  struggle  in  the  water.  Reed's 
name  was  constantly  slated  for  special  mention,  and 
after  one  of  the  fierce  encounters  with  the  pirates  his 
shipmates  made  up  a  purse  for  him. 

It  will  be  interesting  at  this  late  day  to  see  what 
effect  the  news  of  these  three  frigate  actions  had  in 
England.  The  report  of  the  capture  of  their  first  ship, 
the  Guerriere,  was  taken  with  philosophical  surprise : 
"The  loss  of  a  single  frigate  by  us,  when  we  consider 
how  all  other  nations  of  the  world  have  been  dealt  by, 
it  is  true  is  but  a  small  one  ;  when  viewed  as  a  portion 
of  the  British  navy,  it  is  almost  nothing ;  yet,  under 
all  the  circumstances  of  the  two  countries  to  which  the 
vessels  belonged,  we  know  not  any  calamity  of  twenty 
times  its  amount  that  might  have  been  attended  with 
more  serious  consequences  to  the  worsted  party,  had 
it  not  been  counterbalanced  by  a  contemporaneous  ad 
vantage  [alluding  to  Wellington's  successes  in  Spain] 
of  much  greater  magnitude.  As  it  was,  the  loss  of  the 
Guerriere  spread  a  degree  of  gloom  through  the  town 
which  it  was  painful  to  observe,  but  which  was  yet 


416  THE  CONSTITUTION-JAVA  FIGHT.          1812-1813. 

most  honorable  to  the  patriotism  of  those  over  whom 
it  was  diffused. " 1 

The  news  of  the  loss  of  the  Macedonian  was  at  first 
discredited.  "There  is  a  report  that  another  English 
frigate,  the  Macedonian,  has  been  captured  by  an 
American.  We  shall  certainly  be  very  backward  in 
believing  a  second  recurrence  of  such  a  national  dis 
grace.  .  .  .  We  have  heard  that  the  statement  is  dis 
credited  at  the  Admiralty,  but  we  know  not  on  what 
precise  grounds.  Certainly  there  was  a  time  when  it 
would  not  have  been  believed  that  the  American  navy 
could  have  appeared  upon  the  seas  after  a  six  months' 
war  with  England  ;  much  less  that  it  could,  within 
that  period,  have  been  twice  victorious.  Sed  tempora 
mutantur."2  The  uncomfortable  suspicion  evidently 
grew,  and  on  the  next  day  the  acute  pang  of  confirma 
tion  extorted  from  the  British  lion  the  following:  U0 
miserable  advocates  !  Why,  this  renders  the  charge  of 
mismanagement  far  heavier  than  before  !  In  the  name 
of  God,  what  was  done  with  this  immense  superiority 
of  force  ?  Why  was  not  a  squadron  of  observation  off 
every  port  which  contained  an  American  ship  of  war  ? 
Why  was  not  Rodgers  intercepted  with  his  whole 
squadron,  and  taken  or  destroyed  within  sight  of  his 
own  coasts  \ " 3  On  the  following  day  their  rage  sub 
sides  into  this  lament:  uOh,  what  a  charm  is  hereby 
dissolved  !  What  hopes  will  be  excited  in  the  breasts 
of  our  enemies  !  The  land  spell  of  the  French  is  broken 
[alluding  to  Napoleon's  disastrous  retreat  from  Mos 
cow]  and  so  is  our  sea  spell."4  The  London  Morning 
Chronicle  for  December  26,  1812,  with  greater  modera 
tion,  asks  :  uls  it  not  sickening  to  see  that  no  experi 
ence  has  been  sufficient  to  rouse  our  Admiralty  to  take 
measures  that  may  protect  the  British  flag  from  such 
disgrace  ? " 


1  London  Times,  October  7,  1812.  2  Ibid.,  December  26,  1812. 

3  Ibid.,  December  28,  1812.  4  Ibid.,  December  29,  1812. 


1813.  THE  LONDON  TIMES  ON  THE  VICTORIES. 

The  news  of  the  loss  of  the  Java  arriving  in  Eng 
land,  March  19,  1813,  drew  from  the  London  Times  the 
following  resigned  soliloquy:  "The  public  will  learn 
with  sentiments  which  we  shall  not  presume  to  antici 
pate  that  a  third  British  frigate  has  struck  to  an 
American.  .  .  .  This  is  an  occurrence  that  calls  for 
serious  reflection — this,  and  the  fact  stated  in  our  pa 
per  of  yesterday,  that  Lloyd's  list  contains  notices  of 
upward  of  five  hundred  British  vessels  captured  in 
seven  months  by  the  Americans.  Five  hundred  mer 
chantmen  and  three  frigates!  Can  these  statements 
be  true  ?  And  can  the  English  people  hear  them  un 
moved  ?  Any  one  who  had  predicted  such  a  result  of 
an  American  war  this  time  last  year  would  have  been 
treated  as  a  madman  or  a  traitor.  He  would  have  been 
told,  if  his  opponents  had  condescended  to  argue  with 
him,  that  long  ere  seven  months  had  elapsed  the  Ameri 
can  flag  would  have  been  sw^ept  from  the  seas,  the  con 
temptible  navy  of  the  United  States  annihilated,  and 
their  marine  arsenals  rendered  a  heap  of  ruins.  Yet 
down  to  this  moment  not  a  single  American  frigate  has 
struck  her  flag."1 

NOTE. — John  Ceilings  Long,  who  served  with  credit  in  this  battle, 
afterward  became  a  commodore  in  the  navy.  As  commander  of  the  Mis 
sissippi  he  was  ordered  to  bring  Kossuth  to  this  country ;  and  as  the 
American  commander  would  not  allow  Kossuth  to  deliver  revolutionary 
speeches  while  the  Mississippi  was  at  Marseilles,  the  Hungarian  left  the 
ship  at  Gibraltar.  Commodore  Long's  last  duty  was  the  command  of  the 
Pacific  squadron.  He  died  in  1865. 

1  London  Times,  March  20,  1813. 


CHAPTEE  VI. 

THE   FIRST   SLOOP   ACTIONS. 

IN  the  three  preceding  chapters  the  triumph  of  the 
much-ridiculed  American  44-gun  frigates,  and  the  suc 
cess  of  many  innovations  in  their  construction,  arma 
ments  and  general  equipments  introduced  by  American 
shipwrights  and  naval  officers  have  been  noted.  But 
at  the  outbreak  of  hostilities  with  England  the  United 
States  sloops  of  war  did  not  have  a  marked  difference 
in  their  construction  and  arrangements  except  in  such 
details  as  the  superior  American  genius  would  suggest. 
They  had  been  built  more  in  accordance  with  the  same 
class  of  war  ships  in  the  British  navy  at  that  time. 
The  Wasp,  Hornet,  Argus,  Vixen  and  Viper  had  little 
to  distinguish  them  from  English  craft  of  the  same 
rates.  After  their  service  in  the  Mediterranean  the 
Wasp  and  the  Hornet  were  altered  so  as  to  carry  three 
masts  instead  of  two,  and  were  ship-rigged.  As  the 
actions  in  which  these  vessels  were  engaged  deprive 
our  friends,  the  English,  of  the  charge  of  superiority 
of  force,  it  will  be  interesting  to  notice  the  results  of 
their  combats  with  British  sloops  of  war,  and  to  see  if 
the  greater  equality  in  the  opposing  forces  led  to  a 
proportionate  equality  of  damage  and  losses. 

In  the  last  chapter  we  left  the  Hornet  blockading 
the  Bonne  Citoyenne,  Captain  Greene,  in  the  port  of 
Bahia,  while  the  Constitution,  after  capturing  the 
Java,  returned  to  the  United  States.  With  a  dogged 
determination  to  fight  the  Bonne  Citoyenne  at  any  risk, 
Master-Commandant  Lawrence  remained  off  the  port 
of  Bahia  until  the  24th  of  January,  1813.  Captain 

(418) 


1812.      THE  BLOCKADE  OF   THE   BONNE   C1TOYENNE.       419 

Greene,  who  had  said :  "  I  am  convinced,  sir,  that  if  such 
a  rencounter  were  to  take  place  the  result  would  not 
be  long  dubious,  and  would  terminate  favorably  to  the 
ship  which  I  have  the  honor  to  command,"  now  sent  a 


Cruises  of  the  Hornet  and  the  Wasp. 

note  by  a  Portuguese  fishing-smack  to  Rio  Janeiro,  re 
questing  the  commander  of  the  English  74-gun  ship  of 
the  line  Montagu  to  release  him  from  his  humiliating 
position.  So  disgusted  had  Master-Commandant  Law 
rence  become  at  what  he  considered  the  cowardice  of 
Captain  Greene,  that  he  undoubtedly  would  have  main 
tained  the  blockade  indefinitely  had  he  not  been  driven 
off  by  the  Montagu,  which  ship  came  up  from  Rio 
Janeiro  for  the  ''express  purpose"1  of  liberating  the 


1  Washington  Irving,  Spanish  Papers,  vol.  ii,  p.  42. 


420  THE  FIRST  SLOOP  ACTIONS.  1813. 

Bonne  Citoyenne.  So  unexpected  was  her  arrival  that 
the  Hornet  was  compelled  to  run  into  the  harbor  to 
avoid  capture,  so  that  she  in  turn  was  in  danger  of 
being  blockaded ;  but  on  the  following  night  Master- 
Commandant  Lawrence  boldly  stood  out  of  the  harbor 
and  got  to  sea  in  spite  of  the  Montagu.  By  this  time 
several  British  men-of-war  were  making  for  Bahia  to 
intercept  the  Hornet,  and  Master-Commandant  Law 
rence  determined  to  change  his  cruising  ground,  and 
hauling  by  the  wind  to  the  eastward  he  made  sail  for 
Pernambuco.  On  the  14th  of  February  he  captured 
the  British  merchant  ship  Resolution,  mounting  ten 
guns  and  laden  with  coffee  and  tea ;  she  also  had  on 
board  about  twenty- three  thousand  dollars  in  specie. 
Having  transferred  his  prisoners  and  burned  his  prize, 
Master-Commandant  Lawrence  shaped  his  course  for 
Maranham,  where  he  cruised  several  days,  and  then 
made  for  Surinam,  cruising  off  that  port  from  the  15th 
to  the  22d  of  February.  Afterward  he  stood  over  to 
Demerara  for  the  purpose  of  running  along  the  West 
Indies  on  his  way  to  the  United  States. 

On  the  morning  of  the  24th  of  February  a  brig  was 
discovered  off  the  lee  bow.  Chase  was  immediately 
given,  but  having  run  into  a  quarter  less  five  fathoms, 
and  having  no  pilot  aboard,  Master-Commandant  Law 
rence  was  obliged  to  haul  off.  Before  he  gave  up  the 
pursuit,  however,  another  brig  had  been  discovered 
lying  at  anchor  within  the  bar.  This  was  the  English 
sloop  of  war  Espiegle,  Captain  John  Taylor,  mounting 
sixteen  short  32-pounders  and  two  long  guns.  The 
American  commander  determined  to  attack  her  at  her 
anchorage,  and  was  beating  around  the  Carobana  Banks 
for  that  purpose,  when,  at  3.30  P.  M.,  a  third  sail  was 
descried  to  windward.  By  4  P.  M.  she  was  made  out 
to  be  a  large  brig  of  war,  and  twenty  minutes  later  she 
hoisted  British  colors.  Upon  this  Master-Commandant 
Lawrence  cleared  for  action  and  sent  his  men  to  their 
stations.  His  first  lieutenant,  Walter  Stewart,  was  ill. 


1813.  THE  SLOOP  ACTION   OFF   DEMERARA.  421 

and  unable  to  leave  his  berth,  so  that  Lieutenant  John 
Templer  Shubrick  acted  in  his  place.  At  5.10  P.  M.  the 
Hornet,  by  keeping  close  to  the  wind,  succeeded  in 
weathering  the  stranger.  The  American  flag  was  now 
thrown  to  the  breeze,  and  fifteen  minutes  later,  or  at 
5.25  P.  M.,  the  vessels  passed  each  other  on  opposite 
tacks  and  exchanged  broadsides  at  half  pistol-shot. 
After  this  the  Englishman  luffed  so  as  to  continue  the 
action  on  the  other  tack,  but  the  Hornet  quickly  bore 
up,  and,  having  received  the  enemy's  starboard  fire,  ran 
close  aboard  the  starboard  quarter  and  tenaciously  held 
that  position  to  the  end  of  the  battle.  A  destructive 
fire  was  then  poured  into  the  British  vessel.  The 
American  guns  were  fired  so  rapidly  that  in  order  to 
keep  them  cool  buckets  of  water  were  constantly  dashed 
over  them. 

At  5.36  P.  M.,  or  eleven  minutes  from  the  beginning 
of  the  action,  the  English  vessel  surrendered,  and  im 
mediately  afterward  hoisted 

her  flag  from  her  fore  rig 
ging  with  the  union  down, 
as  a  signal  of  distress.  In 
his  official  report  Master- 
Commandant  Lawrence  is 
recorded  as  saying  that  the 
British  vessel  surrendered 
at  5.40  P.  M.,  making  the 

duration    of  the  action  fif-    '      Diagram  of  the  batae. 
teen   minutes.      This  was  a 

mistake,  "but, "said  Lawrence,  uas  my  clerk  got  it 
down  '  fif  teen,'  I  thought  that  was  short  enough." 
The  Americans  then  ceased  firing,  while  Lieuten 
ant  John  Templer  Shubrick  was  sent  aboard  to 
take  possession.  Shortly  afterward  the  enemy's  main 
mast  went  by  the  board.  Mr.  Shubrick  returned  with 
the  first  lieutenant  of  the  English  sloop  of  war  Pea 
cock,  her  commander,  Captain  William  Peake,  hav 
ing  been  killed  in  the  action.  The  prize,  with  six 


5.35 


5.15 


422  THE  FIRST  SLOOP  ACTIONS.  1813. 

feet  of  water  in  her  hold,  was  fast  sinking,  and  Mas 
ter-Commandant  Lawrence  hastily  got  out  all  his  boats 
under  the  command  of  Acting-Lieutenant  David  Con 
ner  and  Midshipman  Benjamin  Cooper  to  rescue  the 
survivors.  Before  the  short  twilight  merged  into 
darkness  the  Peacock  was  anchored,  the  shot  holes 
that  could  be  reached  were  plugged,  the  guns  thrown 
overboard,  the  pumps  manned  and  every  effort  made 
to  keep  her  afloat,  but  a  few  minutes  after  her  sur 
render  she  sank  in  five  and  a  half  fathoms,  carrying 
down  thirteen  of  her  own  crew  and  three  of  the  Hor 
net's,  the  names  of  the  latter  being  John  Hart,  Joseph 
Williams  and  Hannibal  Boyd.  Four  of  the  thirteen 
Englishmen,  however,  managed  to  climb  into  the  fore- 
top,  where  they  were  rescued.  Lieutenant  Conner, 
Midshipman  Cooper  and  several  of  the  Hornet's  men, 
who  were  engaged  in  removing  the  wounded  and 
prisoners,  jumped  into  the  launch  lying  at  the  Pea 
cock's  booms  and  were  saved.  Before  the  vessel  sank 
four  of  her  men,  availing  themselves  of  the  confusion 
of  the  moment,  seized  the  boat  towing  astern,  and,  not 
withstanding  its  shattered  condition,  reached  the  shore. 
The  Peacock  had  three  American  seamen  aboard,  who, 
on  seeing  the  United  States  flag,  went  aft  and  requested 
to  be  excused  from  fighting,  but  Captain  Peake  ordered 
them  back  and  instructed  the  marines  to  be  particu 
larly  watchful  of  them,  and  to  shoot  them  down  at  the 
first  sign  of  flinching.  One  of  these  men  was  killed. 
Another  was  a  relative  of  Master-Commandant  Law 
rence's  wife. 

The  Hornet  was  four  feet  longer  than  the  Peacock, 
but  had  five  inches  less  beam.  The  former  mounted 
eighteen  short  32-pounders  and  two  long  12-pound ers, 
making  in  all  twenty  guns  or  two  hundred  and  seventy- 
nine  pounds,  allowing  for  deficient  weight,  of  metal  to 
the  broadside.  Out  of  her  original  complement  of  one 
hundred  and  fifty  the  sailing-master  and  seven  men 
were  absent  in  a  prize,  leaving  the  Hornet  at  the  time  of 


1813.  COMPARATIVE  FORCES.  423 

this  action  with  one  hundred  and  forty- two  men.  The 
Peacock  mounted  sixteen  short  24-pounders,  two  long 
9-pouuders,  one  short  12-pounder  and  one  long  6-pound- 
er,  making  a  total  of  twenty  guns  with  two  hundred  and 
ten  pounds  of  metal  to  a  broadside,  only  sixty-nine 
pounds  less  than  the  Hornet.  Her  quarter  bill  showed 
a  crew  of  one  hundred  and  thirty-four  men,  of  whom 
four  were  away  in  a  prize.  "The  Peacock  had  long 
been  the  admiration  of  her  numerous  visitors  for  the 
tasteful  arrangement  of  her  deck,  and  had  obtained,  in 
consequence,  the  name  of  the  yacht.  The  breechings 
of  the  carronades  were  lined  with  white  canvas,  the 
shot  lockers  shifted  from  their  usual  places,  and  noth 
ing  could  exceed  in  brilliancy  the  polish  upon  the 
traversing  bars  and  elevating  screws."1  The  Hornet 
sustained  little  or  no  damage  in  her  hull,  her  injuries 
being  confined  chiefly  to  the  rigging.  One  shot  passed 
through  the  foremast,  and  she  received  a  slight  wound 
in  the  bowsprit.2  Her  loss  was  one  man  killed,  John 
Place,  who  was  shot  while  in  the  tops,  and  four  men 
wounded,  two  of  the  latter  by  an  explosion  of  a  car 
tridge.  The  Americans  lost  more  men  in  attempting 
to  save  the  drowning  Englishmen  than  by  the  ene 
my's  fire.  The  Peacock,  as  we  have  seen,  was  utterly 
demolished,  and  in  a  few  minutes,  from  being  a  beau 
tiful  "yacht"  she  was  a  sunken  wreck.  A  Halifax 
paper  of  the  day  said  that  "a  vessel  moored  for 
the  purpose  of  experiment  could  not  have  been  sunk 
sooner.  It  will  not  do  for  our  vessels  to  fight  theirs 
single-handed.  The  Americans  are  a  dead  nip."  The 
Peacock's  loss  was  Captain  Peake  and  four  seamen 
killed  ;  one  sailing-master,  one  midshipman  and  thirty- 
one  seamen  wounded.  Among  the  English  prisoners 
was  a  boy  whose  father  had  been  killed  in  the  battle, 
and  out  of  compassion  Master-Commandant  Lawrence 


1  James'  History  of  the  British  Navy,  vol.  vi,  p.  48. 

2  Official  report  of  Master-Commandant  Lawrence. 

30 


424  THE  FIRST  SLOOP   ACTIONS.  1813. 

took  the  youth  under  his  special  protection.  Writing 
home  from  Bermuda  in  1813,  Sir  Charles  Napier  gives 
one  of  the  many  evidences  that  about  this  time  British 
contempt  for  American  naval  prowess  was  rapidly  turn 
ing  into  respect,  if  not  fear:  "Two  packets  are  quite 
due,  and  we  fear  that  they  have  been  taken,  for  the 
Yankees  swarm  here,  and  when  a  frigate  goes  out  to 
drive  them  off  by  force  they  take  her  !  Yankees  fight 
well,  and  are  gentlemen  in  their  mode  of  warfare.  De- 
catur  refused  Garden's  sword,  saying,  'Sir,  you  have 
used  it  so  well  I  should  be  ashamed  to  take  it  from 
you.'  These  Yankees,  though  so  much  abused,  are 
really  fine  fellows." 

Comparative  force  and  loss. 

Guns.  Lbs.  Crew.      Killed.  Wounded.  Total. 

Hornet:        20  279  142          1  4          5    )      Time 

Peacock:      20  210  130          5          33        38    t      llm. 

Master-Commandant  Lawrence  made  every  exertion 
to  get  his  ship  in  fighting  trim,  for  in  the  bay,  not  more 
than  six  miles  distant,  in  plain  sight,  lay  the  Espiegle, 
a  brig  of  even  greater  force  than  the  Peacock.  During 
the  action  Captain  Taylor  remained  quietly  at  anchor, 
although  he  could  see  the  vessels  engaged  and  must 
have  heard  the  heavy  cannonading.  Subsequently  he 
was  tried  by  a  court-martial  and  was  found  guilty  of 
having  "  neglected  to  exercise  the  ship's  company  at 
the  great  guns."  By  nine  o'clock  that  night  the  Hor 
net  had  her  boats  stowed  away  and  a  new  set  of  sails 
bent,  and  was  in  every  other  respect  prepared  to  meet 
the  Espiegle,  but  Captain  Taylor  allowed  the  American 
sloop  of  war  to  depart  unmolested. 

Nothing  could  exceed  the  care  that  Master-Com 
mandant  Lawrence  took  of  his  wounded  prisoners. 
Every  exertion  was  made  to  have  their  necessarily 
cramped  quarters  as  comfortable  as  possible,  and  such 
was  their  appreciation  of  this  generous  treatment  that 
on  arrival  in  the  United  States  the  British  officers  pub- 


1813.  KINDNESS  TO  THE  PRISONERS.  425 

listed  a  letter  of  gratitude.  They  said,  "  We  can  not 
better  express  our  feelings  than  by  saying  we  cease  to 
consider  ourselves  prisoners."  The  magnanimity  of 
Master-Commandant  Lawrence  was  contagious.  The 
sailors  of  the  Hornet,  knowing  that  the  Peacocks  men 
had  lost  everything  by  the  sinking  of  their  ship,  made 
contributions  from  their  own  scanty  kits  and  supplied 
each  of  the  Englishmen  with  a  complete  outfit.  In  his 
official  report  of  this  action  Master-Commandant  Law 
rence  spoke  in  the  highest  terms  of  the  gallantry  of 
Lieutenants  Shu  brick,  Conner  and  Newton. 

This  action  again  illustrates  the  superiority  of 
American  gunnery.  An  English  author  writes  :  "The 
firing  of  the  Hornet  was  admirable,  and  proved  that 
her  men,  to  the  credit  of  Lawrence  and  his  officers,  had 
been  well  taught  what  use  to  make  of  their  guns."  On 
the  other  hand,  speaking  of  the  sentence  of  the  court- 
martial  convened  to  try  Captain  Taylor  of  the  Espiegle, 
the  same  writer  says:  k'It  seemed  hard,  however,  to 
punish  the  Espiegltfs  commander  for  a  piece  of  neg 
lect  [i.  e.,  to  exercise  the  men  at  their  guns]  which  pre 
vailed  over  two  thirds  of  the  British  navy." 

At  2  A.  M.  on  the  25th  of  February  the  Hornet 
weighed  anchor  and  under  easy  canvas  stood  out  to 
sea.  Running  through  the  West  Indies  and  past  the 
Capes  of  Virginia  she  arrived  at  Holmes'  Hole,  Martha's 
Vineyard,  on  the  19th  of  March  ;  thence  proceeding 
to  New  York  by  Hell  Grate,  she  completed  a  cruise  of 
one  hundred  and  forty- five  days.  On  the  4th  of  May 
the  Common  Council  of  the  city  of  New  York  gave  a 
public  dinner  in  Washington  Hall  to  the  officers  and 
crew  of  the  Hornet.  A  periodical  of  the  day  says : 
uln  the  evening  the  gallant  tars  were  treated  to  a  seat 
in  the  pit  of  the  theater  by  the  managers  and  roused 
the  house  by  their  jollity  and  applause  during  the  per 
formance.  Captain  Lawrence,  with  General  Van  Rens- 
selaer,  General  Morton  and  a  number  of  other  officials, 
filled  one  of  the  side  boxes  and  made  the  house  ring 


426  THE  FIRST  SLOOP  ACTIONS.  1812. 

with  huzzas  on  their  appearance."  In  the  following 
June  the  Hornet,  with  the  United  States  and  the  Mace 
donian,  attempted  to  get  to  sea,  but  they  were  driven 
back  and  blockaded  in  New  London  by  a  superior 
force.  Early  in  1815  the  Hornet  managed  to  run  the 
blockade  and  get  to  sea.  The  colors  of  the  Peacock 
are  preserved  in  the  Naval  Institute  Building  at  An 
napolis. 

As  we  have  seen  in  Chapter  IV,  Captain  John  Rodg- 
ers,  having  refitted  after  his  first  cruise,  sailed  again 
on  the  8th  of  October,  1812,  in  the  44-gun  frigate  Presi 
dent,  having  with  him  the  44  gun  frigate  United  States, 
Captain  Stephen  Decatur  ;  the  36-gun  frigate  Congress, 
Captain  John  Smith  ;  and  the  16-gun  brig  Argus,  Mas 
ter-Commandant  Arthur  Sinclair.  On  the  12th  of  Oc 
tober  the  President  and  the  Congress  separated  from 
the  other  vessels  and  continued  their  cruise  in  company. 
Taking  a  northerly  course,  Captain  Rodgers,  on  the 
17th  of  October,  while  on  the  Newfoundland  Banks, 
fell  in  with  the  Jamaica  homeward-bound  packet  Swal 
low.  When  she  was  taken,  two  hundred  thousand  dol 
lars  in  gold  and  silver,  packed  in  twenty  boxes,  were 
found  in  her  hold.  Shaping  their  course  eastward,  the 
frigates,  on  the  morning  of  the  31st  of  October,  while 
in  latitude  32°  North,  longitude  30°  West,  discovered 
three  sails.  These  were  the  British  36-gun  frigate 
Galatea,  sister  ship  of  the  Belmdera,  Captain  Woodley 
Losack,  and  the  South  Sea  whalers  Berkeley  and  Argo. 
The  Galatea  bore  down  to  reconnoiter,  and  at  10  A.  M., 
discovering  the  President  and  the  Congress  to  be 
American  frigates,  and  having  learned  three  days  be 
fore  from  the  outward-bound  India  merchant  ship 
Inglis  that  war  had  been  declared,  Captain  Losack 
stood  away  to  the  east.  At  noon  the  Galatea  was  on 
her  best  point  of  sailing,  with  the  American  frigates 
about  four  miles  astern.  The  Congress  at  this  time 
stood  after  the  Argo  and  captured  her,  while  the  Presi 
dent  continued  in  chase  of  the  Galatea.  The  pursuit 


1812.         THE   PRESIDENT-CONGRESS-ARGUS  CRUISE.          427 

was  maintained  throughout  the  afternoon,  but,  although 
the  President  gained,  it  was  dark  before  she  came 
within  gunshot,  and  seeing  that  the  chase  would  escape 
in  the  night  Captain  Rodgers  hauled  off  and  rejoined 
his  consort.  From  this  time  until  the  30th  of  Novem 
ber  the  two  frigates  did  not  meet  a  sail.  Having  gone 
as  far  as  22°  West  and  17°  North,  they  ran  over  to 
Bermuda,  and  thence  past  the  Capes  of  Virginia  to 
Boston,  at  which  port  they  arrived  on  the  31st  of  De 
cember. 

After  parting  from  the  President  and  the  Congress, 
the  United  States  and  the  Argus  also  took  up  differ 
ent  courses,  Captain  Decatur  soon  afterward  falling  in 
with  the  British  38-gun  frigate  Macedonian  off  the 
Canary  Islands,  as  has  been  narrated  in  Chapter  IV. 
After  leaving  the  United  States  the  Argus  headed 
southward,  and  in  two  weeks  arrived  off  the  coast  of 
Brazil,  taking  one  or  two  valuable  prizes  on  the  way. 
Cruising  for  several  days  between  St.  Roque  and  Su 
rinam,  Master-Commandant  Sinclair  passed  to  the 
windward  of  the  West  Indies  and  then  steered  north. 
Arriving  off  Bermuda,  he  hovered  in  the  vicinity  of  that 
port  until  driven  off  by  a  superior  force.  Two  weeks 
later  the  little  brig  appeared  off  Halifax  and  succeeded 
in  intercepting  a  number  of  vessels  bound  for  British 
America.  While  off  Nova  Scotia  the  Argus  experi 
enced  intensely  cold  weather.  It  was  impossible  to 
handle  the  ropes  without  freezing  the  fingers,  and  the 
spray  froze  on  the  sails,  making  them  as  brittle  as  glass, 
and  when  loosed  they  would  not  fall  from  the  yards. 
It  frequently  became  necessary  to  strike  them  with 
hammers  and  capstan  bars,  and  when  this  was  done  the 
ice  broke  and  fell  to  the  deck  in  showers.  The  ropes 
were  incrusted  with  ice  and  would  neither  start  nor  run 
through  the  sheaves.  In  such  a  condition,  it  was  im 
possible  to  tack,  and  when  it  became  necessary  for  the 
brig  to  wear  this  was  done  by  first  hauling  up  the  fore 
sail,  as  no  dependence  could  be  placed  on  the  tacks  or 


428  THE  FIRST  SLOOP  ACTIONS.  1813. 

the  sheets  working  in  their  blocks.  The  clouds  of 
spray  that  dashed  over  the  vessel  froze  on  the  guns, 
rigging  and  decks  as  fast  as  it  fell,  so  that  the  ship  from 
one  end  to  the  other  was  one  mass  of  ice,  rendering 
walking  exceedingly  dangerous,  and  in  rough  weather, 
when  the  sloop  was  rolling  and  pitching,  impossible. 
Having  secured  five  prizes,  valued  at  two  hundred  thou 
sand  dollars,  Master-Commandant  Sinclair  made  for  the 
United  States,  and  arrived  in  Boston  on  the  3d  of  Janu 
ary,  1813,  three  days  after  Captain  Rodgers  gained  that 
port.  In  this  cruise  of  eighty-seven  days  the  Argus 
was  chased  by  a  British  squadron,  two  vessels  of  which 
were  ships  of  the  line.  The  favor  of  the  moon  ena 
bled  them  to  keep  the  brig  in  sight  at  night  as  well 
as  in  the  day,  so  that  for  seventy  hours  her  position 
was  critical  ;  but  by  superior  seamanship  Master- 
Commandant  Sinclair  escaped  with  all  his  guns,  al 
though  he  was  compelled  to  sacrifice  his  anchors  and 
boats. 

The  36-gun  frigate  Constellation,  famous  during  the 
French  war,  was  being  prepared  for  sea  under  the 
direction  of  Captain  Charles  Stewart,  but  when  she  got 
down  to  Hampton  Roads,  January,  1813,  it  was  found 
that  a  strong  blockading  force  had  been  stationed  off 
the  bay.  The  Constellation  was  then  anchored  at  Nor 
folk,  and  remained  there  throughout  the  war.  The 
English  made  several  attempts  to  destroy  her,  but 
Captain  Stewart  arranged  such  a  perfect  line  of  defense 
that  they  were  repelled  every  time.  On  the  return  of 
the  44- gun  frigate  Constitution  from  her  cruise  in 
which  she  captured  the  Java,  Captain  Stewart  was 
transferred  to  the  command  of  "  Old  Ironsides •,"  while 
Captain  Joseph  Tarbell  was  placed  in  command  of  the 
Constellation. 

In  the  earlier  part  of  the  War  of  1812  the  United 
States  12-gun  brig  Vixen,  Master-Commandant  Chris 
topher  Gadsden,  was  employed  on  the  Southern  coast. 
On  the  death  of  her  commander  she  was  placed  under 


1812.  LOSS  OF  THE  VIXEN   AND  VIPER.  429 

the  orders  of  Lieutenant  George  Washington  Read, 
who  had  been  first  lieutenant  under  Captain  Somers 
before  Tripoli.  On  the  22d  of  November,  1812,  while 
cruising  among  the  West  Indies,  the  Vixen  was  chased 
by  the  British  32-gun  frigate  Southampton,  Captain 
Sir  James  Lucas  Yeo,  which  succeeded  in  getting  along 
side  of  the  brig  and  compelled  her  to  surrender.  Both 
vessels  were  lost  soon  afterward  on  Concepcion  Island, 
one  of  the  Bahama  group.  Before  he  could  be  ex 
changed  Master-Commandant  Read  died  from  yellow 
fever.  On  the  17th  of  January,  1813,  the  United  States 
10-gun  sloop  Viper,  Lieutenant  John  D.  Henley,  was 
overtaken  and  captured  by  the  British  32-gun  frigate 
Narcissus. 

On  the  outbreak  of  hostilities  between  the  United 
States  and  Great  Britain  the  American  18-gun  sloop  of 
war  Wasp  was  in  European  waters  conveying  dis 
patches  for  the  Government.  Returning  to  the  United 
States,  she  immediately  refitted  and  sailed  from  the 
Delaware  on  the  13th  of  October,  under  the  command 
of  Master-Commandant  Jacob  Jones,  who  had  seen 
active  service  in  the  Mediterranean,  and  who  was  in  the 
Philadelphia  when  that  frigate  ran  on  the  shoals  be 
fore  Tripoli  and  was  captured.  It  was  Master-Com 
mandant  Jones'  intention  to  get  into  the  track  of  the 
enemy's  merchantmen  plying  between  the  West  Indies 
and  England.  While  running  due  east  for  this  purpose 
the  Wasp  was  overtaken  by  a  violent  gale,  in  which 
she  lost  her  jib  boom  and  two  men  who  were  on  it. 
About  half  past  eleven  o'clock  on  the  night  of  the  17th 
several  lights  were  discovered,  which  were  made  out  to 
be  a  small  convoy  of  merchant  ships.  Thinking  it  im 
prudent  to  remain  too  near  the  strangers  while  in  a 
damaged  condition,  there  being  a  clear  moonlight, 
Master-Commandant  Jones  drew  to  windward  until  the 
morning  light  should  discover  to  him  the  force  of  the 
escort.  In  the  morning  it  was  seen  that  five  merchant 
men  were  being  convoyed  by  a  brig  of  war,  and  that 


1215 


430  THE  FIRST  SLOOP  ACTIONS.  1812, 

several  of  the  merchant  ships  also  mounted  from  six 
teen  to  eighteen  guns.1 

The  Wasp  was  now  in  latitude  37°  North,  longitude 
65°  West,  or  a  little  eastward  of  Albemarle  Sound.  As 
she  bore  down  on  the  strangers  the  brig  of  war  signaled 
her  convoy  to  make  all  sail  before  the  wind  while  she 
dropped  astern  to  reconnoiter.  Hoisting  his  colors  and 
pennant,  about  eleven  o'clock  in  the  morning,  Master- 
Commandant  Jones  made  for  the  stranger,  and  at  11.32 
A.  M.,  when  the  vessels  were  fifty  or  sixty  yards  apart, 
he  hailed  and  demanded  the  stranger's  name.  By  way 
of  an  answer  the  brig  hauled  down  the  Spanish  flag  and 
ran  up  British  colors,  and  poured  in  a  broadside  and 

f__ i    a  volley  of  musketry.     The 

Wasp  responded  promptly, 
and  as  the  vessels  gradually 
neared  each  other  the  fir 
ing  became  close  and  de 
structive.  A  few  minutes 
after  the  battle  opened  the 
Wasp  lost  her  main  top 
mast,  and  as  it  fell,  together 

Diagram  of  the  battle.  with,  the  main  topsail  yard, 

across    the    port    fore   and 

foretopsail  braces,  the  head  yards  were  useless  for 
the  rest  of  the  action.  Three  minutes  after  this  mis 
hap  the  gaff  and  the  mizzen  topgallant  mast  were 
shot  away,  which  left  the  Wasp  almost  unmanagea 
ble.  At  the  same  time  the  enemy  had  sustained  no 
considerable  injury  that  was  visible  from  the  deck  of 
the  American  ship,  yet  the  Wasp's  fire  had  been  ex 
ceedingly  rapid,  and  it  was  thought  accurate.  A 
heavy  sea  was  running,  which  frequently  submerged 
the  muzzles  of  the  guns.  At  11.52  A.  M.,  twenty  min 
utes  from  the  time  the  action  began,  the  vessels  were 
within  half  pistol-shot.  By  this  time  the  Wasp's  rig- 

1  Official  report  of  Master-Commandant  Jones. 


* 


. 


1812.  THE  WASP'S   BRILLIANT   VICTORY.  431 

ging  and  masts  were  badly  cut  up.  Besides  the  loss  of 
her  jib  boom  in  the  gale  of  the  15th  and  the  damage 
already  mentioned,  every  brace  and  most  of  the  other 
running  rigging  were  cut  away,  whereas  the  enemy 
had  lost  only  her  gaff  and  head  braces.  But  this  loss 
proved  most  unfortunate  ;  for,  as  the  brig  was  unable 
to  trim  her  head  yards,  her  after  sails  threw  her  into  a 
position  to  be  raked  by  the  Wasp.  Master-Command 
ant  Jones  quickly  availed  himself  of  this  by  running 
the  enemy's  bowsprit  between  his  main  and  mizzen 
masts,  just  over  the  heads  of  Master-Commandant  Jones 
and  Lieutenant  Biddle,  who  were  standing  near  the 
capstan.  The  Americans  then  loaded  with  grape  and 
canister  and  swept  the  enemy's  deck  with  great  effect. 
So  close  were  the  vessels  that  the  American  ramrods 
were  pushed  against  the  side  of  the  British  ship. 

Lieutenant  James  Biddle  with  his  boarders  now 
sprang  upon  the  hammock  cloths  in  readiness  to  jump 
aboard  the  brig  as  soon  as  a  roll  of  the  vessels  should 
bring  them  close  enough.  Master-Commandant  Jones, 
in  view  of  the  dangerous  condition  of  his  spars  and 
rigging,  was  unwilling  to  relinquish  his  present  advan 
tage,  and  ordered  his  crew  to  their  guns  ;  but  the  ardor 
of  the  men  could  not  be  restrained,  and  before  his  com 
mand  could  reach  them  an  American  sailor,  Jack  Lang, 
who  had  been  impressed  in  the  British  service,  jumped 
upon  his  gun,  and,  reaching  up  to  the  brig's  bowsprit, 
clambered  along  that  spar  and  gained  the  enemy's 
deck.  Seeing  the  impetuosity  of  the  crew,  Lieutenant 
Biddle,  followed  by  Lieutenant  George  W.  Rodgers  and 
Midshipman  Yorick  Baker  and  his  boarders,  taking 
advantage  of  a  favorable  lurch,  sprang  upon  the  brig's 
forecastle.  The  scene  they  beheld  there  beggars  de 
scription.  Only  a  few  of  the  English  ship's  company 
were  standing,  one  a  lieutenant,  who  was  bleeding 
from  numerous  wounds  and  leaning  against  the  com 
panion  way  for  support,  another  a  quartermaster  who 
remained  at  the  wheel  still  clutching  it  with  a  grim  de- 


432  THE  FIRST  SLOOP  ACTIONS.  1812. 

termination  to  die  at  his  post,  apparently  regardless  of 
the  slaughter  around  him.  The  decks  were  thickly 
strewn  with  the  mutilated  dead  and  dying,  and  as  the 
vessel  rolled,  great  quantities  of  blood  diluted  with 
water  washed  from  one  side  to  the  other,  covering  the 
prostrate  forms  and  splashing  the  bulwarks  and  masts 
with  a  ghastly  hue.  The  horrid  spectacle  chilled  all 
feelings  of  exultation  in  the  breasts  of  the  victorious 
Americans  and  aroused  their  sympathy.  Carefully 
picking  their  way  over  the  dead  and  wounded,  they 
reached  the  quarter-deck,  when  the  surviving  officer 
dropped  his  sword  in  token  of  submission,  while  Lieu 
tenant  Biddle  hauled  down  the  colors.  A  few  minutes 
later  the  enemy's  masts  fell,  the  mainmast  going  close 
to  the  deck,  and  the  foremast  leaving  a  stump  twelve 
or  fifteen  feet  high. 

The  prize  was  the  British  brig  of  war  Frolic,  Cap 
tain  Thomas  Whinyates,  convoying  merchantmen 
homeward  bound  from  Honduras,  and  carrying  a  crew 
of  one  hundred  and  ten  all  told.1  Captain  Whinyates 
reports:  "At  length  the  enemy  boarded  and  made 
himself  master  of  the  brig,  every  individual  officer  be 
ing  killed  or  wounded,  and  the  greater  part  of  the  men 
either  killed  or  wounded,  there  being  not  twenty  per 
sons  remaining  unhurt."  James,  however,  places  her 
loss  at  fifteen  killed  and  forty-seven  wounded,  among 
the  latter  being  Captain  Whinyates  and  Second-Lieu 
tenant  Frederick  Boughton  Win  tie,  while  Lieutenant 
Charles  M'Kay  was  mortally  injured.  Out  of  her  crew 
of  one  hundred  and  thirty-eight  the  Wasp  lost  five 
killed  and  five  wounded.2  When  Master-Commandant 
Jones  learned  of  the  frightful  slaughter  in  the  Frolic  he 
immediately  sent  the  Wasp's  surgeon's  mate  aboard.  It 
was  now  seen  why  the  American  shot  apparently  did 
no  damage  to  the  Frolic.  The  gunners  of  the  English 

1  James'  History  of  the  British  Navy,  vol.  v,  p.  391. 

2  Oilicial  report  of  Master-Commandant  Jones. 


1812.  THE  WASP  AND  THE   FROLIC.  433 

brig  fired  on  the  upward  roll,  which  accounts  for  most 
of  their  shot  taking  effect  in  the  Wasp's  spars  and 
rigging.  The  American  gunners,  on  the  contrary, 
fired  on  the  downward  roll,  their  shot  striking  the  ene 
my's  hull. 

The  duration  of  this  action,  from  the  first  broadside 
to  the  time  Lieutenant  Biddle  lowered  the  British  fiag, 
was  forty-three  minutes.  The  two  vessels  were  of  the 
same  size.  The  Frolic,  during  a  gale,  had  lost  her 
main  yard,  and  had  had  her  topsails  blown  away  and 
her  main  topmast  sprung.  The  Wasp,  during  the  same 
gale,  was  also  much  damaged  in  her  rigging  and  spars. 
The  latter's  armament  consisted  of  sixteen  short  32- 
pounders  and  two  long  12-pounders,  with  an  actual 
weight  of  two  hundred  and  forty-nine  pounds  of  metal 
to  the  broadside.  James  gives  the  Frolic  sixteen  short 
32-pounders,  two  long  6-pounders  and  two  short  12- 
pounders,  or  twenty  guns,  with  two  hundred  and  sev 
enty-four  pounds  of  metal  to  the  broadside.  But  he 
has  not  given  any  authority  for  this  statement.  Cap 
tain  Whinyates,  in  his  official  report  of  the  action  to 
Admiral  Warren,  as  given  to  the  public,  is  silent  as  to 
the  size,  crew  or  force  of  either  the  Wasp  or  the  Frolic. 
Master-Commandant  Jones,  in  his  report,  gives  a  mi 
nute  description  of  the  Wasp's  and  Frolic's  armaments, 
placing  the  latter's  at  twenty-two  guns,  sixteen  of  them 
32-pound  carronades  and  four  12- pounders  on  the  main 
deck  and  two  12-pound  carronades  on  the  topgallant 
forecastle.  James  seems  to  have  depended  entirely  on 
Master-Commandant  Jones'  report  of  this  battle.  In 
no  particular  does  he  use  the  few  statistics  given  by 
Captain  Whinyates,  while  his  description  and  discus 
sion  of  the  action  are  full  of  American  figures.  Under 
these  circumstances  we  are  justified  in  accepting  the 
statement  given  by  Master- Commandant  Jones  in  ref 
erence  to  the  Frolic's  armament,  rather  than  James'. 
This  gives  the  Frolic  twenty-two  guns,  with  two  hun 
dred  and  ninety-two  pounds  of  metal  to  the  broadside. 


THE  FIRST  SLOOP  ACTIONS.  1812. 

We  have  now  discussed  two  actions  in  which  the  op 
posing  vessels  were  of  the  same  force  (even  English 
authorities  admitting  that  the  Frolic  had  a  superior 
armament  to  the  Wasp\  and  yet  the  proportion  of 
damage  and  loss  is  even  more  against  the  British  ves 
sels  than  they  were  in  the  frigate's  actions. 

Comparative  force  and  loss. 

Guns.  Lbs.  Crew.     Killed.  Wounded.  Total. 

Wasp:          18  249  138          5  5        10    )      Time 

Frolic:         22  292  110        15          47        62    f      43m. 

The  Frolic  was  literally  cut  to  pieces.  Almost 
every  broadside  crashed  into  her  hull  with  terrible  pre 
cision,  while  her  masts  were  so  damaged  that  shortly 
after  the  surrender  they  fell,  covering  the  decks  with 
the  wreckage.  It  is  doubtful  if  there  is  another  in 
stance  in  naval  history  where  such  a  large  proportion 
of  a  crew  fell  by  cannon  fire  alone,  and  this  is  the  more 
remarkable  when  we  consider  that  a  heavy  sea  was 
running,  which  in  such  small  craft  made  accurate  can 
non  fire  extremely  difficult.  That  the  Admiralty  did 
not  find  extenuating  circumstances  in  the  capture  of 
the  British  cruiser  Frolic  by  an  American  vessel  of  in 
ferior  force  is  shown  in  these  significant  words  :  "  Since 
then  [i.  e.,  his  return  to  England  after  this  action]  we 
find  no  official  mention  of  him  [Captain  Whinyates]."1 
In  the  afternoon,  while  the  Americans  were  repairing 
damages,  a  sail  hove  in  sight,  which  proved  to  be  the 
British  74-gun  ship  of  the  line  Poictiers,  Captain  Sir 
John  P.  Beresford,  and  running  down  on  the  two  sloops 
of  war  she  seized  both  the  Wasp  and  her  prize,  and 
carried  them  to  Bermuda. 

Master-Commandant  Jones  in  his  official  report 
spoke  in  the  highest  terms  of  the  conduct  of  Lieuten 
ants  Biddle  and  George  W.  Rodgers,  Midshipmen 
Benjamin  W.  Booth  and  Henry  B.  Rapp  and  Sailing- 

1  Marshall's  Royal  Naval  Biography,  vol.  xi,  p.  108. 


1812.  THE  WASP  AND  THE  FROLIC.  435 

Master  William  Knight.  Midshipman  Alexander  Clax- 
ton,  who  was  on  the  sick  list?  when  the  enemy  was 
sighted,  left  his  berth  and  remained  on  deck  during 
the  entire  engagement,  although  too  ill  to  be  with  his 
division.  The  other  officers  in  the  Wasp  were  Thomas 
Harris,  surgeon  ;  Walter  W.  New,  surgeon' s  mate  ; 
George  S.  Wise,  purser ;  George  W.  Vancleave,  A.  S. 
Ten  Eyck,  Richard  Brashiers,  John  Holcomb,  William 
J.  M'Cluney,  C.  J.  Baker  and  Charles  Gauntt,  midship 
men  ;  John  M'Cland,  boatswain  ;  and  George  Jackson, 
gunner.  Congress  voted  twenty-five  thousand  dollars 
to  the  officers  and  seamen  of  the  Wasp  as  prize  money, 
and  a  gold  medal  to  Master-Commandant  Jones  and  a 
silver  one  to  each  of  his  officers,  while  the  Legislature 
of  Pennsylvania  gave  a  sword  to  Lieutenant  Biddle. 


CHAPTER  VII. 

THE  CHESAPEAKE  AND  THE  SHANNON. 

LANDING  in  New  York  after  his  brilliant  victory 
over  the  Peacock,  Captain  Lawrence  was  received  with 
great  enthusiasm  and  well-merited  applause.  Previ 
ously  to  his  return  he  had  been  promoted  to  the  rank 
of  captain,  and  the  command  of  the  44-gun  frigate 
Constitution  was  now  offered  to  him,  on  the  condition, 
however,  that  neither  Captain  David  Porter  nor  Cap 
tain  Samuel  Evans  applied  for  it.  This  conditional 
offer,  being  distasteful  to  Captain  Lawrence,  was  de 
clined,  whereupon  the  Secretary  of  the  Navy  gave  him 
unconditionally  the  command  of  that  favorite  ship. 
But  a  few  weeks  later  Captain  Lawrence  was  surprised 
and  chagrined  by  counter  orders,  with  instructions  to 
repair  immediately  to  Boston  and  take  command  of  the 
36 -gun  frigate  Chesapeake,  then  nearly  ready  for  sea. 
From  the  time  of  her  ignominious  surrender  to  the 
Leopard,  in  1807,  the  Chesapeake  had  been  stigmatized 
as  an  unlucky  ship,  and  this  reputation  had  been 
strangely  borne  out  in  her  subsequent  career.  On  the 
17th  of  December,  1812,  this  frigate,  under  the  com 
mand  of  Captain  Samuel  Evans,  sailed  from  Boston  for 
an  extended  cruise  against  the  enemy.  Running  down 
to  Madeira  and  past  the  Cape  Verdes,  she  reached 
the  equator  without  taking  any  considerable  prize. 
Here  Captain  Evans  cruised  six  weeks  between  longi 
tudes  16°  and  25°  West  without  sighting  an  enemy,  and 
then,  hoping  for  better  luck,  he  made  for  the  coast  of 
South  America.  Approaching  within  forty-five  miles  of 
Surinam,  he  passed  the  spot  where  the  Hornet,  only  the 

(436) 


1813.  THE  CHESAPEAKE  AN   UNLUCKY  SHIP.  437 

day  before,  had  sunk  the  Peacock.  Thus  early  did  the 
Chesapeake  cast  her  baleful  shadow  over  the  young 
life  of  Lawrence. 

Cruising  among  the  West  Indies  with  the  same 
want  of  success,  Captain  Evans  headed  north,  and 
passing  near  Bermuda  and  the  Capes  of  Virginia  he 
arrived  at  Boston  on  the  18th  of  April.  During  this 
protracted  cruise  of  one  hundred  and  twenty-two  days 
the  Chesapeake  had  taken  only  five  merchantmen,  re 
captured  one  American  vessel,  chased  an  English  frig 
ate,  and  was  in  turn  pursued  by  a  ship  of  the  line. 
While  entering  Boston  harbor  on  her  return  she  had 
the  misfortune  to  lose  a  topmast,  and  the  men  on  it 
were  drowned.  The  accident,  happening  just  on  her 
return  to  port,  was  regarded  among  the  seafaring  men 
as  an  inauspicious  omen  for  the  next  cruise,  and  this, 
together  with  her  previous  reputation  for  bad  luck 
and  a  sailor's  unaffected  dread  of  such  a  ship,  made  it 
exceedingly  difficult  to  enlist  another  crew.  In  the 
estimation  of  all  thorough  seamen  such  bad  records 
were  of  the  greatest  importance.  The  repute  of  the 
vessel  exercised  a  powerful  influence  not  only  in  en 
listing  a  crew  but  on  its  efficiency.  The  Constitution, 
the  Constellation  and  the  Enterprise  were  the  lucky 
vessels  of  the  service,  while  the  Chesapeake  and  the 
President  were  the  unlucky  ones.  These  vessels  went 
into  the  War  of  1812  with  such  characters,  and  they 
were  strangely  borne  out  by  the  naval  operations  of 
1812-' 15.  Besides  this  unfortunate  reputation,  the 
Chesapeake  was  deservingly  styled  by  Washington 
Irving  "  the  worst  frigate  of  our  navy,"  and  immedi 
ately  on  her  return  to  Boston  from  her  last  cruise  the 
men  made  haste  to  leave  her,  while  her  officers  found 
employment  in  other  vessels.  Captain  Evans,  having 
lost  the  sight  of  one  eye  and  being  in  imminent  danger 
of  losing  that  of  the  other,  was  permitted  to  remain  on 
shore  while  undergoing  medical  treatment.  Such  being 
the  condition  of  the  Chesapeake  after  her  last  unsuc- 


438  THE  CHESAPEAKE  AND  THE  SHANNON.  1813. 

cessful  cruise,  it  is  not  surprising  that  Captain  Law 
rence  felt  "  extreme  reluctance"  in  obeying  his  orders. 
He  even  requested  to  be  continued  in  command  of  the 
little  Hornet  rather  than  accept  promotion  to  such  a 
frigate.  He  wrote  "  f our  letters  successively  to  the 
Secretary  of  the  Navy,"  1  asking  for  some  alteration  in 
his  last  instructions,  but  receiving  no  answer  he  was 
constrained  to  obey. 

It  was  the  intention  of  the  Navy  Department  to 
have  the  Hornet,  Master- Commandant  James  Biddle, 
then  refitting  in  New  York,  sail  in  company  with  the 
Chesapeake  on  a  cruise  to  the  north,  with  the  twofold 
object  of  intercepting  British  vessels  bound  for  the  St. 
Lawrence  and  of  destroying  the  Greenland  whale  fish 
eries.  In  furtherance  of  this  plan  Captain  Lawrence, 
a  few  days  before  sailing,  sent  the  following  letter  to 
Master-Commandant  Biddle,  in  which  he  clearly  ex 
pressed  the  reluctance  with  which  he  sailed  in  the 
Chesapeake : 

"  BOSTON,  May  £7,  1813. 

"  DEAK  SIE  :  In  hopes  of  being  relieved  by  Captain 
Stewart  I  neglected  writing  agreeably  to  promise,  but 
as  I  have  given  over  all  hopes  of  seeing  him,  and  the 
Chesapeake  is  almost  ready,  I  shall  sail  on  Sunday 
[May  30th],  provided  I  have  a  chance  of  getting  out  clear 
of  the  Shannon  and  the  Tenedos,  who  are  on  the  look 
out.  My  intention  is  to  pass  out  by  Cape  Sable  and 
then  run  out  west  [east  ?],  until  I  get  into  the  stream, 
then  haul  in  for  Cape  Canso,  and  run  from  Cape  Bre 
ton,  where  I  expect  the  pleasure  of  seeing  you.  I 
think  your  best  chance  for  getting  out  is  through  the 
Sound.  In  haste,  yours  sincerely, 

"JAMES  LAWKENCE." 

In  the  earlier  part  of  the  War  of  1812  the  enemy 
did  not  make  serious  efforts  to  interfere  with  the  trade 
of  the  New  England  States,  under  the  impression  that 

1  Washington  Irving,  Spanish  Papers,  vol.  ii,  p.  45. 


1806-1813.      SPLENDID  CONDITION  OF  THE  SHANNON.       439 

they  were  opposed  to  the  war  and  were  friendly  to 
Great  Britain.  But  when  a  number  of  American  war 
vessels  put  into  Boston,  after  their  successful  cruises, 
and  were  received  with  every  demonstration  of  joy,  the 
English  began  to  doubt  if  the  New  Englanders  were  so 
friendly  after  all,  and  in  the  spring  of  1813  powerful 
blockading  squadrons  were  collected  off  their  ports. 
Among  these  vessels  was  the  38-gun  frigate  Shannon, 
Captain  Philip  Bowes  Vere  Broke.  The  condition  of 
this  frigate  was  sufficiently  remarkable  to  merit  a  mo 
ment's  notice.  The  Shannon  was  one  of  the  most 
efficient  ships  of  her  class  afloat.  In  this  particular 
she  formed  a  striking  contrast  to  the  average  British 
war  vessel  of  that  day.  This  distinction  was  entirely 
due  to  the  efforts  of  her  commander,  who,  in  spite  of 
the  regulations  of  the  service  and  at  considerable  ex 
pense  to  himself,  developed  the  Shannon's  force  and 
trained  her  men  to  the  highest  proficiency.  Yonge, 
in  his  Naval  History  of  Great  Britain,  says:  uFrom 
the  time  that  Captain  Broke  took  command  of  her 
he  had  carefully  trained  her  crew  in  gunnery  and  in 
every  other  exercise  calculated  to  make  them  really 
efficient  in  the  day  of  trial."  Turning  to  various  rec 
ords,  we  find  that  Captain  Broke  assumed  command  of 
the  Shannon  on  the  14th  of  September,  1806,  so  that 
down  to  1813  he  had  commanded  her  over  six  years. 

To  those  who  have  had  practical  experience  in  sea 
manship  the  advantage  of  a  long  acquaintance  with  a 
ship  is  obvious.  Every  vessel  has  its  peculiarities, 
which  require  at  least  one  voyage  for  her  officers  and 
men  to  discover  them.  By  this  time  Captain  Broke 
had  thoroughly  mastered  the  "tricks"  of  the  Shan 
non,  and  by  those  innumerable  little  changes  or  addi 
tions  in  her  rigging,  armament  etc.,  which  only  experi 
ence  could  suggest,  he  had  developed  her  efficiency  in 
spoed  and  battle  to  the  utmost  limits.  In  other  words, 
he  had  grown  into  his  ship.  Not  only  had  Captain 
Broke  been  in  continuous  command  of  the  Shannon 

31 


440  THE  CHESAPEAKE  AND  THE  SHANNON.  1813. 

over  six  years,  but  his  present  crew  had  served  under 
him  five  years.  "The  crew  of  the  Shannon  had  been 
five  years  together,  commanded  by  the  same  cap 
tain."1  Thus  it  was  that  Captain  Broke  was  thorough 
ly  acquainted  with  his  crew ;  he  knew  whom  of  his 
officers  he  could  trust  for  any  particular  duty,  and  on 
whom  to  depend  in  the  many  emergencies  of  battle. 
The  quartermasters  were  those  best  fitted  for  their 
places,  the  boatswain  and  mate  by  long  training  and  a 
series  of  promotions  had  proved  themselves  in  every 
way  qualified  to  handle  their  respective  watches ;  and 
they,  in  turn,  knew  just  which  of  their  men  could  be  re 
lied  upon  for  the  performance  of  any  hazardous  duty. 
Thus  it  was  throughout  the  ship's  entire  company. 

That  the  crew  of  the  Shannon  had  been  trained  to 
the  highest  possible  degree  of  skill  and  competency, 
and  that  Captain  Broke  was  regarded  as  an  unusually 
able  disciplinarian  for  the  British  navy  of  that  period, 
is  admitted  by  James  when  he  says  :  "  Every  day,  for 
about  an  hour  and  a  half  in  the  forenoon,  when  not 
prevented  by  chase  or  the  state  of  the  weather,  the  men 
were  exercised  at  training  the  guns,  and  for  the  same 
time  in  the  afternoon  in  the  use  of  the  broadsword, 
pike,  musket  etc.  Twice  a  week  the  crew  fired  at  tar 
gets  both  with  the  great  guns  and  musketry,  and  Cap 
tain  Broke,  as  an  additional  stimulus  beyond  the 
emulation  excited,  gave  a  pound  of  tobacco  to  every 
man  that  put  a  shot  through  the  bull's  eye."  Brighton, 
in  his  memoirs  of  Sir  Philip  B.  Y.  Broke,  says  :  "  The 
guns  were  manned  from  the  port  and  starboard  watches 
alternately,  the  odd-numbered  guns  from  the  port 
watch,  the  even-numbered  guns  from  the  starboard 
watch ;  the  idea  was  that  the  watch  below  should  not 
be  disturbed,  and  that  those  men  who  fought  together 
ought  to  be  exercised  together.  In  exercising  with  shot 
at  a  mark  each  gun  was  allowed  three  shot.  The  mark 

1  Allen's  Battles  of  the  British  Navy,  vol.  ii,  p.  430. 


1813.          SPLENDID  CONDITION  OF  THE  SHANNON. 

was  a  beef  cask  with  a  square  piece  of  canvas  of  about 
four  feet.  It  was  always  cut  to  pieces,  the  distance 
being  between  three  and  four  hundred  yards.  There 
was  also  an  occasional  exercise,  which  was,  to  lay  the 
ship  to,  throw  a  beef  cask  overboard  and  at  the  same 
time  pass  the  word,  '  Numbers  two  and  four,  main-deck 
guns,  up  to  your  quarters  ! '  Then  the  captain  gave  the 
word,  '  Clear  for  action  and  fire  at  the  cask  ! '  It  was  in 
most  instances  sunk,  but  the  shot  always  went  close 
enough  to  be  called  effective."  A  writer  in  the  United 
Service  Journal  of  1841  said :  4 '  It  should  not  be  for 
gotten  that  the  present  system  of  gunnery  in  the  royal 
navy  sprang  from  the  Shannon's,  borne  on  at  last  upon 
the  tide  of  popular  favor  from  the  surprising  effects 
it  had  produced  in  the  capture  of  the  Chesapeake" 
Such  were  the  thorough  state  of  preparation  and  de 
veloped  force  of  the  Shannon  at  this  time  that  James 
says:  "  Had  this  frigate  [the  Shannon],  in  the  excel 
lent  order  she  was  kept,  met  the  Constitution  in  Au 
gust,  1812,  we  verily  believe—  But  the  Shannon  and 
Constitution  did  not  meet,  therefore  the  thing  was  not 
tried."  Here  we  have  an  admission  on  the  part  of 
James  that  the  Shannon  on  this  occasion  had  been 
so  thoroughly  prepared  for  battle  as  to  be  nearly  or 
quite  able  to  cope  successfully  with  the  Constitution  ; 
it  being  borne  in  mind  that  the  Constitution  was  a 
heavier  frigate  than  the  Chesapeake,  the  former  rating 
as  a  44-gun  and  the  latter  as  a  36-gun  ship. 

An  example  of  the  splendid  discipline  maintained 
in  the  Shannon  was  given  on  the  night  of  April  5, 
1813,  when  she  was  struck  by  lightning  while  lying  to 
in  the  act  of  boarding  a  schooner  that  she  had  just 
captured.  Her  main  topmast  and  topgallant  mast  were 
shivered  to  pieces,  and  fifteen  feet  out  of  the  middle  of 
the  former  was  blown  to  atoms.  The  topsail  yard  was 
broken  in  the  slings,  a  cheek  and  hasp  were  forced  off 
the  head  of  the  mainmast  and  the  mast  was  shaken  to 
the  quarter-deck,  where  the  partners  were  broken.  The 


442  THE  CHESAPEAKE  AND  THE  SHANNON.  1813. 

main  yard  also  was  sprung  in  two  places ;  the  brass 
skewers  in  the  truck  and  some  links  of  the  maintop 
chain  were  melted  as  if  they  had  been  in  a  furnace. 
For  some  time  after  the  crash  the  tops  were  on  fire,  and 
nothing  but  the  perfect  discipline  of  the  crew  saved  the 
ship  from  destruction.  Captain  Broke  was  in  his  cabin 
and  thought  several  guns  had  been  fired.  Rushing  to 
the  deck,  he  found  his  masts  and  rigging  on  fire.  Or 
dering  the  drummer  to  beat  to  quarters,  he  soon  had 
his  crew  under  control  and  averted  a  serious  disaster. 

The  result  of  the  first  five  actions  between  American 
and  English  cruisers  in  the  War  of  1812  caused  deep 
humiliation  in  England.  "  The  British  navy,  depressed 
by  repeated  mortifications,  had  in  some  measure  lost 
its  spirits ;  and  the  dissatisfaction  expressed  in  the 
public  journals  of  the  empire  produced  a  feeling  of 
discontent  and  disgust  in  the  bosom  of  our  seamen."1 
And  well  it  might.  During  the  preceding  eighteen 
years  the  British  navy  had  matched  its  strength 
against  that  of  almost  every  civilized  nation,  and  in 
two  hundred  actions  between  single  ships  the  English 
were  defeated  but  five  times,  and  on  each  of  those  five 
occasions  their  vessel  was  of  inferior  force  to  her  an 
tagonist.  But  in  six  months  this  same  navy  had  suf 
fered  five  consecutive  and  overwhelming  defeats,  in  one 
of  which  their  vessel  is  acknowledged  to  have  been  su 
perior  in  force  to  her  antagonist,  with  not  one  corre 
sponding  success.  And  this,  too,  from  "the  contempt 
ible  navy  of  the  United  States,"2  which  had  long  been 
the  butt  of  ridicule  and  the  "unmanly  taunts  of  too 
many  English  party  writers."3  To  stem  this  torrent  of 
popular  rage  and  to  soothe  the  wounded  pride  of 
Britons  at  home,  English  commanders  on  the  Amer 
ican  station  found  it  necessary  to  report  some  success 


1  Brenton's  History  of  the  British  Navy,  vol.  ii,  p.  490. 

2  London  Times,  March  20,  1813. 

3  Edinburgh  Review,  April,  1840,  p.  125. 


1813.  BROKE  ANXIOUS  FOR  BATTLE.  443 

more  substantial  than  a  furious  chase  or  a  masterly  re 
treat. 

Conscious  of  the  superior  condition  of  his  ship,  and 
confident  of  his  ability  to  capture  an  American  of  equal 
rate,  Captain  Broke  had  cruised  off  the  port  of  Boston 
during  the  spring  of  1813,  hoping  to  meet  one  of  the 
American  frigates.  On  the  night  of  April  30th  the 
President,  Captain  John  Rodgers,  and  the  Congress, 
Captain  Smith,  eluded  the  British  blockading  squadron 
and  got  to  sea,  leaving  only  the  Constitution  and  the 
Chesapeake  in  that  port,  the  former  undergoing  exten 
sive  repairs  and  with  only  her  mainmast  in,  and  the 
latter  nearly  ready  for  sea.  Anxious  to  try  the  for 
tunes  of  war  in  single  combat,  and  fearing  that  the 
Chesapeake  also  would  get  to  sea  in  spite  of  the  vigi 
lance  of  British  cruisers,  Captain  Broke  ordered  all  his 
consorts  away  where  they  could  not  interfere,  and  then 
wrote  a  challenge  to  Captain  Lawrence  and  sent  it  In 
by  Eben  SJocum,  one  of  the  American  prisoners  in  the 
Shannon.  Slocum  set  out  in  a  boat  and  landed  at 
Marblehead,  from  which  place  he  forwarded  the  letter 
to  Boston  ;  but  before  it  arrived  Captain  Lawrence  had 
received  peremptory  orders  from  Washington  to  sail  at 
the  earliest  possible  moment. 

Tuesday  morning,  June  1,  1813,  broke  over  the  is 
lands  and  shores  of  Boston  harbor  in  unclouded  sum 
mer  loveliness.  As  the  sun  cast  its  welcomed  rays  of 
light  over  the  gently  heaving  bosom  of  the  bay  a  faint 
breeze  rippled  the  waters  and  floated  through  the  rig 
ging  of  the  shipping,  which  was  strung  with  the  sailors' 
4 '  Monday  wash. "  The  night  before  and  several  days 
preceding  had  been  rainy  and  foggy,  so  that  the  block 
ading  squadron  had  been  lost  to  view,  but  as  the  mists 
cleared  away  at  the  dawn  of  this  momentous  day  the 
sentry  at  the  fort  turned  his  gaze  seaward.  A  few  hazy 
mists  still  clustered  around  the  lighthouse — the  guide 
of  friend  and  foe  alike— but  in  the  offing,  in  full  view 
of  the  town,  a  solitary  frigate  was  seen  standing  to  and 


444  THE  CHESAPEAKE  AND  THE  SHANNON.  1813. 

fro,  in  quiet  reaches,  across  the  bay,  as  if  daring  the 
Americans  to  come  out  and  give  battle.  It  was  the 
Shannon  awaiting  an  answer  to  her  challenge.  The 
news  quickly  spread  among  the  townsfolk  that  a  sin 
gle  British  frigate  presumed  to  blockade  the  harbor  of 
Boston  while  two  such  ships  as  the  Constitution  and 
Chesapeake  were  in  port.  Lawrence  learned  of  this 
while  breakfasting  with  a  friend.  He  was  not  a  man 
to  be  blockaded  by  a  single  frigate,  and  he  did  not 
hesitate  to  seize  this  opportunity  of  getting  to  sea  be 
fore  other  British  ships  appeared  off  the  harbor.  Hasti 
ly  leaving  the  table,  he  made  his  way  to  the  wharf,  ac 
companied  by  his  two  youthful  sons,  and  bidding  them 
an  affectionate  adieu  he  put  off  to  his  ship,  where  he 
gave  orders  to  prepare  for  immediate  sailing.  Boats 
laden  with  supplies  and  delinquent  seamen  were  soon 
pulling  hurriedly  to  and  from  the  frigate,  while  the 
wharf  was  crowded  with  an  excited  throng  of  people 
eagerly  discussing  the  chances  of  the  impending  con 
flict,  others  made  off  to  different  points  of  observation 
along  the  shore  to  get  a  better  view  of  the  expected 
battle. 

Just  as  the  last  boat-load  of  seamen,  amid  the  cheers 
and  hand- waving  of  the  crowd,  was  putting  off  from 
the  landing,  a  negro,  who  had  spent  most  of  his  life  in 
Nova  Scotia,  called  out  to  a  friend  in  the  boat,  "  Good- 
by,  Sam.  You's  goin'  to  Halifax  before  you  comes 
back  to  Bostaing.  Gib  my  lub  to  requiring  friends 
and  tell  'em  Fs  berry  well."  The  ominous  import  of 
this  message  enraged  the  people  around  him,  and  the 
negro  narrowly  escaped  with  his  life. 

Before  giving  the  order  to  weigh  anchor  Captain 
Lawrence  penned  the  following  dispatch  to  the  Secre 
tary  of  the  Navy  :  "  Since  I  had  the  honor  of  address 
ing  you  last  I  have  been  detained  for  want  of  men.  I 
am  now  getting  under  way,  and  shall  endeavor  to  carry 
into  execution  the  instructions  you  have  honored  me 
with.  An  English  frigate  is  now  in  sight  from  my 


1813.  LAWRENCE  GOES  FORTH  TO  BATTLE.  445 

deck.  I  have  sent  a  pilot  boat  out  to  reconnoiter,  and 
should  she  prove  to  be  alone  I  am  in  hopes  of  giving  a 
good  account  of  her  before  night."  This  was  the  last 
letter  ever  written  by  Captain  Lawrence.  On  the  re 
turn  of  the  pilot  boat  with  the  announcement  that  no 
other  frigates  were  in  concealment  behind  the  head 
lands  in  the  vicinity,  Captain  Lawrence  gave  the  order 
to  weigh  anchor,  and  the  frigate  stood  down  the  bay. 

Now  that  the  Chesapeake  had  severed  all  communi 
cations  with  the  shore  and  was  standing  out  to  sea  with 
the  avowed  purpose  of  engaging  the  enemy,  her  people 
began  to  realize  the  condition  of  the  ship.  Their  com 
mander  had  arrived  in  Boston  only  ten  days  before,  and 
was  totally  unacquainted  with  his  officers,  men  or 
ship.  The  first  lieutenant,  Octavius  Augustus  Page, 
of  Virginia,  an  officer  of  experience,  was  confined  on 
shore  with  lung  fever,  from  which  he  died  three  days 
afterward,  aged  twenty-eight.  His  place  was  filled  by 
Third-Lieutenant  Augustus  C.  Ludlow,  who,  though 
an  officer  of  merit,  was  scarcely  twenty-one  years  of 
age,1  and  who  was  in  a  strange  and  new  position — a 
position  most  important  in  a  frigate  so  far  as  navigat 
ing  the  ship  and  handling  the  men  were  concerned,  but 
especially  important  in  breaking  in  and  disciplining 
a  crew.  Second-Lieutenant  Thompson  was  absent  on 
account  of  his  health,  and  Acting- Lieutenants  Nichol 
son  and  Pearce  also  were  absent  for  the  same  reason. 
George  Budd,  the  only  commissioned  sea  officer  of  ex 
perience  in  the  ship,  was  made  second  lieutenant.  The 
places  of  third  and  fourth  lieutenants  were  vacant,  and 
were  supplied  by  Midshipmen  William  Cox  and  Ed 
ward  J.  Ballard,  who  now  served  in  these  capacities 
for  the  first  time. 

In  consequence  of  the  Chesape.aJctfs  bad  repute,  it 
was  with  the  greatest  difficulty  that  men  could  be  in 
duced  to  serve  in  her,  especially  since  seamen  at  that 

1  Ludlow's  Monument,  Trinity  churchyard,  New  York  City. 


446  THE  CHESAPEAKE  AND  THE  SHANNON.  1813. 

time  were  so  scarce  that  even  the  best  frigates  were  em 
barrassed  to  fill  out  their  complements.  The  Chesa 
peake' s  crew,  as  finally  brought  together,  was  composed 
in  a  large  part  of  landsmen,  foreigners — the  boatswain's 
mate  being  a  Portuguese — and  the  least  desirable  sail 
ors  in  port.  Captain  Broke,  in  a  letter  to  Admiral  H. 
Hotham,  dated  September  24,  1813,  said:  "Simpson, 
gunner's  mate  of  the  Chesapeake,  says  he  delivered  the 
keys  of  the  fore  magazine  up  to  Lieutenant  Falkiner 
[of  the  Shannon]  directly  the  ship  was  taken,  or  be 
fore."  Even  when  a  newly  enlisted  ship's  company  is 
composed  of  experienced  officers  and  able  seamen  there 
must  be  more  or  less  confusion  for  the  first  few  days 
after  leaving  port.  It  takes  time  for  the  officers  to  get 
accustomed  to  the  habits  of  their  commander  and  the 
men  to  learn  their  officers'  methods  of  carrying  on  dis 
cipline.  The  peculiarities  of  the  vessel  have  to  be  dis 
covered,  the  arrangement  of  her  armament  must  be 
mastered,  possible  changes  made  in  the  watch  and  sta 
tion  bills  to  secure  the  best  advantage,  and  a  thousand 
and  one  little  improvements  effected  which  only  expe 
rience  can  suggest.  Owing  to  the  irregularity  in  the 
uniforms,  if  not  the  entire  lack  of  uniformity  in  dress 
of  both  officers  and  seamen  in  the  American  war  ves 
sels  of  that  day,  it  was  especially  necessary  that  the 
officers  and  men  should  become  thoroughly  familiar 
with  each  other's  faces,  lest  in  the  confusion  of  battle 
they  should  be  unable  to  distinguish  between  friends 
and  foes.  So  ignorant  were  the  officers  of  the  Chesa 
peake  of  their  own  men,  that  one  of  her  lieutenants 
joined  a  party  of  British  boarders  supposing  them  to 
be  Americans.  Besides  this  unfortunate  condition  of 
the  ship,  a  large  proportion  of  the  sailors,  in  keeping 
with  their  time-honored  custom  of  getting  intoxicated 
before  leaving  port  on  an  extended  voyage,  were  lying 
round  the  ship  in  a  drunken  stupor  from  which  even 
the  excitement  and  turmoil  of  battle  did  not  arouse 
them,  as  is  seen  in  Captain  Brenton's  Naval  History, 


1813.     WRETCHED  CONDITION  OF  THE  CHESAPEAKE.      447 

when  lie  says,  "  Many  of  the  prisoners  were  drunk  and 
riotous." 

Captain  Lawrence  was  aware  of  the  disorderly  con 
dition  of  his  ship,  and  naval  officers  who  accompanied 
him  to  the  wharf  warned  him  of  the  risk  of  giving 
battle  under  such  circumstances.  "Be  cautious,"  they 
said  ;  "  take  heed.  We  know  every  British  ship  on  the 
station  except  the  Shannon"  But  Captain  Lawrence 
was  determined  on  the  meeting,  for  he  regarded  the 
appearance  of  the  frigate  as  appealing  to  his  sense  of 
honor,  inasmuch  as  he,  only  six  months  before,  had 
sent  a  challenge  to  Captain  Greene,  of  the  sloop  of  war 
Bonne  Citoyenne,  off  Bahia.  The  challenge  sent  by 
Captain  Broke  through  Eben  Slocum  did  not  arrive  in 
Boston  until  some  time  after  the  Chesapeake  sailed,  so 
that  Captain  Lawrence  did  not  receive  it.1  Had  he 
known  that  the  British  commander  had  left  the  selec 
tion  of  time  and  place  to  him,  "at  any  bearing  and 
distance  you  please  to  fix  off  the  south  breakers  of 
Nantucket  or  the  shoal  on  St.  George's  Banks,"  he  un 
doubtedly  would  have  postponed  the  meeting  until  he 
could  accustom  his  men  to  act  together  and  to  perform 
the  ordinary  duties  of  seamanship  and  gunnery.  As 
it  was,  the  Chesapeake  went  out  to  meet  the  Shannon 
not  in  response  to  Captain  Broke's  challenge,  but  as  if 
the  two  vessels  had  casually  met  off  the  harbor. 

All  this  time  an  animated  scene  was  taking  place  in 
the  British  frigate.  Captain  Broke  had  long  desired  to 
meet  an  American  cruiser  of  the  same  rate  and  had  long 
prepared  for  the  meeting.  This  was  to  be  the  greatest 
day  of  his  life.  At  early  dawn  he  climbed  into  the 
Shannon1  s  tops  and  eagerly  scanned  the  harbor  to  see 
if  the  Chesapeake,  aided  by  the  fog  and  the  night,  had 
given  him  the  slip  as  the  President  and  Congress  had 
done  some  weeks  before  when  the  entire  British  block 
ading  squadron  was  collected  off  the  port.  The  lofty, 

1  Washington  Irving,  Spanish  Papers,  vol.  ii,  p.  40. 


448  TnE  CHESAPEAKE  AND  THE  SHANNON.  1813. 

tapering  masts  and  the  widespread  yards  of  a  frigate 
were  soon  descried  through  the  breaking  mists,  show 
ing  that  the  Chesapeake  was  still  in  the  harbor,  but 
beside  the  loosened  foresail,  which  in  the  light  currents 
of  air  was  lazily  bulging  out  and  falling  flat  against  the 
mast,  there  were  no  signs  of  unwonted  activity.  See 
ing  no  occasion  for  immediate  action,  Captain  Broke 
descended  into  his  cabin  for  breakfast  and  allowed  the 
usual  routine  of  the  ship  to  begin.  At  ten  o'clock  the 
beat  to  quarters  rattled  along  the  decks  of  the  British 
frigate  and  sent  its  sharp  summons  down  the  hatch 
ways,  and  the  men  were  soon  hurrying  to  their  sta 
tions  to  go  through  their  regular  morning  drill.  At 
noon  the  men  went  to  dinner  ;  but  just  as  they  were 
seated  the  words  "She's  coming  out!"  spread  like 
wildfire  from  one  end  of  the  ship  to  the  other,  and  the 
officers  and  men  hastened  on  deck  to  gaze  on  the  wel 
comed  sight.  Nor  were  they  disappointed.  Sail  after 
sail  was  unfurled  on  the  towering  masts  of  the  Ameri 
can  frigate  and  sheeted  home  until  the  noble  ship  was 
bending  under  a  cloud  of  canvas.  Soon  flags  were  de 
fiantly  run  up  to  her  mastheads,  and  with  all  the  speed 
of  the  ebbing  tide  and  the  light  breeze  she  stood  down 
the  bay,  attended  by  numerous  pleasure  craft  filled 
with  people  anxious  to  witness  a  naval  engagement. 

Captain  Broke  silently  and  thoughtfully  descended 
into  his  cabin  and  there  made  his  personal  arrange 
ments  for  the  battle.  The  Rev.  Dr.  Brighton  says : 
"What  passed  in  that  solemn  hour  no  living  creature 
now  on  earth  can  tell,  but  we  know  enough  of  the  war 
rior  to  feel  assured  that  he  committed  himself  and  the 
wife  and  children  then  sleeping  the  sleep  of  the  peace 
ful  in  distant  England  to  the  great  God  he  had  so  long 
confessed  and  honored."  Returning  to  the  deck  after 
a  brief  absence,  the  British  commander  took  a  position 
on  the  break  of  the  quarter-deck  and  called  his  crew 
aft.  The  men  of  the  upper-deck  quarters  stood  in 
front  of  him  and  along  the  gangways,  while  the  men  of 


1813.  "A  SCOUNDREL  PORTUGUESE."  449 

the  main  deck  assembled  below,  the  marines  being 
drawn  up  in  line  at  the  great  guns.  Captain  Broke 
then  said  :  u  Shannons  !  You  know  that  from  various 
causes  the  Americans  have  lately  triumphed  on  several 
occasions  over  the  British  flag.  This  will  not  daunt 
you.  But  they  have  said  that  the  English  have  forgot 
ten  the  way  to  fight.  You  will  let  them  know  to-day  that 
there  are  Englishmen  in  the  Shannon  who  still  know 
how  to  fight.  Fire  into  her  quarters,  main  deck  into 
main  deck,  quarter-deck  into  quarter-deck.  Kill  the 
men,  and  the  ship  is  yours.  Don't  cheer.  Go  quietly 
to  your  quarters.  You  have  the  blood  of  hundreds  of 
'your  countrymen  to  avenge."  A  dead  silence  rested 
over  the  Shannons  deck  at  the  close  of  these  words, 
and  all  went  to  their  stations  feeling  that  they  had  a 
foe  worthy  of  their  steel.  First-Lieutenant  Watt  then 
went  forward  and  placed  a  white  ensign  on  the  cap 
stan,  as  had  been  his  custom  whenever  preparing  for 
action,  remarking,  "That  is  to  hoist  over  the  enemy's 
colors." 

Scarcely  had  the  Chesapeake  rounded  the  light 
house,  at  one  o'clock  in  the  afternoon,  when  Captain 
Lawrence  got  a  foretaste  of  the  quality  of  his  crew. 
After  hoisting  a  flag  with  the  motto  "  Free  Trade  and 
Sailors'  Rights,"1  he  gave  them,  according  to  custom, 
a  short  harangue.  In  the  midst  of  his  speech  he  was 
interrupted  by  the  loud  murmurs  and  the  mutinous 
attitude  of  his  men.  When  allowed  to  finish  his  re 
marks,  "  a  scoundrel  Portuguese  who  was  boatswain' s 
mate  "  2  spoke  up  in  an  insolent  manner  and  demand 
ed,  among  other  things,  prize  money  which  had  been 


1  It-  seems  almost   superfluous    to   remark    that    the    phrase   "  free 
trade "  had  an  entirely  different  meaning  from  that  which  it  bears  to 
day,  meaning  at  that  time  that  American  merchants  had  a  right  to  sail 
on  the  high  seas  without  being  subject  to  delays  and  the  confiscation  of 
their  merchandise  by  British  cruisers  wherever  found. 

2  Washington  Irving,  Spanish  Papers,  vol.  ii,  p.  47 ;  also  Brighton's 
Memoirs  of  Admiral  Broke,  p.  165. 


450  THE  CHESAPEAKE  AND  THE  SHANNON.  1813. 

due  to  some  of  their  number  several  weeks.  Here  was 
an  awakening  for  Captain  Lawrence  :  an  enemy  in  a 
part  of  his  crew  and  a  powerful  foe  awaiting  him  in 
the  offing.  But  to  such  a  nature  as  Lawrence  pos 
sessed,  to  retire  in  the  face  of  the  enemy  and  meet  the 
cold  glances  of  his  countrymen  after  he  had  set  out 
with  the  avowed  determination  of  engaging,  was  worse 
than  death.  Flight  was  out  of  the  question,  so  the 
purser  was  ordered  to  issue  prize  checks,  while  to  de 
feat  and  death  went  the  haughty  Lawrence.  Filled 
with  gloomy  forebodings  by  the  dastardly  conduct  of 
his  crew,  deeply  wounded  by  the  treachery  of  the  men 
on .  whom  he  relied,  Captain  Lawrence  bravely  faced 
his  doom.  "  Colossal  in  figure,  and  with  muscular 
power  superior  to  most  men,"  he  endeavored  to  infuse 
his  own  indomitable  courage  into  the  drooping  spirits 
around  him  ;  but  to  the  close  observer  it  must  have 
been  apparent  that  he  did  not  possess  the  confidence 
which  he  so  manfully  attempted  to  inspire. 

The  calm  deliberation  with  which  the  American  and 
English  commanders  went  out  to  seek  each  other's  life, 
and  the  earnestness  with  which  they  urged  their  offi 
cers  and  men  to  steep  their  hands  in  the  blood  of  their 
fellow-beings,  form  one  of  the  somber  pictures  of  naval 
history.  Lawrence  was  the  youngest  son  of  John 
Lawrence,  Esquire,  counselor-at-law  at  Burlington, 
N.  J.,  and  was  the  second  in  command  at  the  cele 
brated  capture  of  the  Philadelphia  in  the  harbor  of 
Tripoli.  Broke  was  the  descendant  of  an  ancient  fam 
ily  which  had  lived  in  Broke  Hall,  England,  over  three 
hundred  and  fifty  years,  and  for  four  hundred  years  at 
Leighton.  Both  were  men  in  the  prime  of  manhood, 
LawTence  in  his  thirty-second  year  and  Broke  in  his 
thirty-seventh.  Both  were  models  of  chivalry  and 
manly  grace  ;  both  were  held  in  the  highest  estimation 
in  their  profession.  Lawrence  had  just  taken  an  affec 
tionate  farewell  of  his  two  sons,  and  an  hour  later  was 
urging  his  men  to  ' '  Peacock  them  !  Peacock  them  !  " 


1813.  THE  BATTLE  OPENS.  451 

Broke  but  a  short  time  before  had  committed  his  wife 
to  God's  mercy,  and  soon  afterward  was  urging  his  crew 
to  "  Kill  the  men  !  kill  the  men  !  "  Both  were  men  of 
the  kindliest  feelings  and  most  tender  affections  ;  both 
acknowledged  the  justice  of  the  cause  for  which  the 
Americans  were  contending ;  yet  with  steady  deter 
mination  they  went  out  at  the  head  of  their  ships'  com 
panies  to  take  each  other's  life.  A  few  hours  after 
ward,  when  Captain  Broke  fell  on  the  Chesapeake }s 
decks  fainting,  and  covered  with  his  own  blood,  his 
lieutenants,  on  loosening  his  clothes,  found  a  small  blue- 
silk  case  suspended  around  his  neck.  It  contained  a 
lock  of  his  wife's  hair. 

At  four  o'clock  in  the  afternoon  the  frigates  were 
seven  miles  apart,  and  half  an  hour  later  the  Chesa 
peake  hauled  up  and  fired  a  gun,  intimating  her  readi 
ness  to  begin  the  action.  At  five  o'clock  she  took  in 
her  royal  and  topgallant  sails  and  sent  down  her  royal 
yards.  At  5.10  P.  M.,1  being  about  eighteen  miles  east 
of  Boston  Lighthouse,  the  Shannon  beat  to  quarters, 
and  twenty  minutes  later  hauled  up  her  courses,  with 
her  head  to  the  southeast,  and  lay-to  under  her  top 
sails  and  jib,  the  latter  flowing  and  the  spanker  hang 
ing  by  the  throat  brail  only,  ready  for  hauling  out. 
u  Lawrence  displayed  great  skill  and  tactics  when  clos 
ing  with  us  to  prevent  our  fire,  which,  however,  we  did 
not  attempt,  for  Broke  had  given  orders  not  to  fire 
whilst  the  gallant  fellow  keeps  his  head  toward  us, 
and  so  we  waited  in  silence."2  The  sun  was  setting, 
and  the  Chesapeake,  being  to  the  west  of  her  foe, 
threw  the  shadow  of  her  sails  far  ahead,  and  finally 
they  passed  over  the  decks  of  the  British  frigate,  dark 
ening  her  main-deck  ports  and  throwing  a  chill  over 


1  Shannon's  log. 

2  Sir  Provo  Wallis  to  the  author.     Sir  Provo  was  second  lieutenant  in 
the  Shannon.     He  died  February  13, 1892,  at  his  home,  Funtington  House, 
Chichester,  England,  in  his  one  hundred  and  first  year,  at  which  time  he 
was  the  senior  admiral  of  the  British  navy. 


452  THE  CHESAPEAKE  AND  THE  SHANNON.  1813. 

the  men  stationed  at  the  guns.  She  was  now  so  near 
her  foe  that  the  rippling  of  the  waters  against  her  bow 
could  be  distinctly  heard  by  those  in  the  British  frigate. 

For  some  time 
Captain  Broke 
was  in  doubt 
as  to  whether 
the  Chesapeake 
would  run  down 
under  the  Shan 
non's  stern  and 
rake  or  come 

Diagram  of  the  battle.  fairly  alongside. 

The     American 

frigate,  however,  disdained  the  advantage,  and  hold 
ing  on  her  course  ranged  up  off  the  Shannon' s  beam. 
Seeing  that  Lawrence  was  about  to  engage  in  a  fair 
yard-arm  and  yard-arm  action,  Captain  Broke  stepped 
to  the  skylight  on  his  quarter-deck  and  ordered  the 
gunners  on  the  deck  below  "to  fire  on  the  enemy 
as  soon  as  the  guns  bore  on  his  second  bow  port." 
Allen,  in  his  Battles  of  the  British  Navy,  says:  "The 
Shannon's  aftermost  guns  on  the  main  deck  were 
loaded  with  two  round  shot  and  a  keg  of  one  hundred 
and  fifty  musket  balls  ;  the  next  gun  had  one  round 
shot  and  one  double-headed  shot,  and  so  on  alternately 
with  every  gun  on  the  main  deck."1  At  a  quarter  be 
fore  six  " 2  the  bow  of  the  Chesapeake  began  to  double 
on  the  Shannon's  quarter  and  the  latter  opened  fire,  one 
gun  after  the  other,  from  the  aftermost  gun  to  the  bow. 
The  effect  of  this  fire,  ' '  as  witnessed  from  the  Shan 
non's  tops,  was  truly  withering.  A  hurricane  of  shot, 
splinters,  torn  hammocks,  cut  rigging  and  wreck  of 
every  kind  was  hurled  like  a  cloud  across  the  deck." 
The  Chesapeake  did  not  immediately  reply,  but  having 
secured  a  favorable  position  she  also  delivered  her 

1  Vol.  ii,  p.  427,  note.  2  Official  report  of  Lieutenant  Budd. 


1813.  DREADFUL  SLAUGHTER.  453 

broadside  with  tremendous  effect.      Both  ships  then 
kept  up  a  furious  cannonade  for  several  minutes. 

At  the  first  broadside  Captain  Lawrence,  while 
standing  on  a  carronade  slide,  was  severely  wounded 
in  the  leg,  but  refused  to  go  below,  and,  supporting  him 
self  on  the  companion  way,  continued  in  command  of 
his  ship.  At  the  same  time  William  Augustus  White, 
the  sailing-master,  was  killed.  The  firing  was  so  close 
and  rapid  that  in  a  few  minutes  half  of  the  Ameri 
can  officers  were  either  killed  or  wounded.  The  Brit 
ish  frigate  had  also  suffered  heavily.  One  12-pound 
shot  entered  her  lower  port  sill  on  the  quarter  where 
the  ninth  gun  was  being  worked ;'  it  passed  through 
the  gun  carriage  and  knocked  out  the  quoin,  which, 
striking  the  captain  of  the  gun  on  the  knee,  broke  the 
knee-cap  and  drove  the  fragments  of  bone  half  way  up 
his  thigh.  At  the  same  instant  Captain  Broke  was 
stepping  over  the  train  tackle  of  this  gun,  and  it  is  be 
lieved  that  the  shot  passed  betwreen  his  legs.  One  32- 
pound  shot,  after  piercing  the  Shannon's  hull,  passed 
through  one  of  the  gun-room  cabins,  knocked  out  a 
part  of  the  bulkhead  and  injured  a  magazine  man  who 
was  stationed  at  a  powder  scuttle.  The  shot,  then 
nearly  spent,  rolled  toward  the  powder  scuttles  and 
would  have  fallen  in  the  magazine  passage  had  not  a 
man  turned  it  away  with  his  foot.  One  of  the  men  at 
the  ninth  gun  was  struck  by  a  grape  shot,  which  pierc 
ing  him  below  the  stomach  entered  the  cavity  of  the 
body,  but  the  brave  fellow  continued  the  task  of  load 
ing  his  gun.  He  would  not  go  below,  and  was  led  to  an 
arm  chest  and  there  lay  down  in  dreadful  agony,  beg 
ging  those  about  him  to  put  their  hands  into  the  wound 
and  take  out  the  shot,  saying,  "I  shall  do  well  enough 
if  you  will  only  do  that."  He  died  in  a  few  minutes. 
The  STiannorfs  marines  at  this  moment  were  drawn  up 
along  the  gangway,  the  first  division  on  the  starboard 
side,  under  the  command  of  First- Lieu  tenant  Johns,  and 
the  second  division  on  the  port  gangway,  commanded 


454  THE  CHESAPEAKE  AND   THE  SHANNON.  1813. 

by  Second-Lieutenant  Law,  and  they  had  been  ordered 
to  move  to  the  forecastle,  as  it  was  thought  that  the 
Chesapeake  might  fall  aboard  the  Shannon  at  that 
point.  At  this  moment  a  32-pound  shot  struck  the  top 
of  the  stern  boat  and  made  a  host  of  splinters  out  of 
it,  for  a  moment  throwing  the  marines  into  confusion. 
The  same  shot  came  through  the  top  of  the  forecastle 
and  knocked  away  all  the  lining  planks.  Another  shot 
entered  the  ship  diagonally,  crippling  the  port-cabin 
guns,  tearing  down  the  beams  overhead,  and  passing 
out  on  the  starboard  side.  The  Chesapeake  had  a  kind 
of  double  transom  formed  by  a  transverse  timber  being 
laid  athwart  the  stern  frame,  and  inside  of  this  was  the 
usual  stern-frame  woodwork.  It  formed  a  shelf  or  flat 
surface  in  the  after  gun  room,  just  below  the  stern 
ports.  This  woodwork,  from  the  inside  to  the  out, 
must  have  been  five  feet  thick.  An  18-pound  shot 
entered  diagonally  and  penetrated  it  nearly  seven  feet. 
The  headway  that  the  Chesapeake  had  acquired  in 
coming  into  action,  and  the  calm  she  produced  on  the 
Shannon's  sails  when  fairly  alongside,  carried  the 
American  frigate  ahead  of  her  antagonist,  and,  desir 
ing  to  preserve  the  weather  gage  so  as  to  cripple  the 
Shannon  with  his  dismantling  shot,  Captain  Lawrence 
hauled  up  a  little.  But  as  her  jib  sheet  and  fore-top 
sail  tie  were  shot  away,  and  her  helm  was  unattended 
by  reason  of  the  death  of  the  men  at  her  wheel,  the 
Chesapeake  came  up  so  sharply  to  the  wind  as  to  deaden 
her  headway  completely,  and  in  consequence  she  was 
taken  aback  and  given  sternboard,  with  her  stern  and 
quarters  exposed  to  the  Shannon's  broadside.  At  this 
moment  the  British  delivered  their  most  effective  fire, 
not  only  raking  the  Chesapeake  fore  and  aft  with  their 
quarter  guns  and  beating  in  her  stern  ports,  but  at  the 
same  time  maintaining  a  tremendous  diagonal  fire  from 
their  forward  guns  across  the  decks  of  the  American 
frigate.  This  fire  rapidly  increased  the  American  list 
of  killed  or  wounded :  it  now  included  Captain  Law- 


1813.  BOARDERS  CALLED.  455 

rence,  Acting  First-Lieutenant  Ludlow,  who  was  twice 
wounded  by  grape  and  musketry  ;  Acting  Fourth- Lieu 
tenant  Ballard,  mortally  wounded  ;  Lieutenant  of  Ma 
rines  James  Broom,  mortally  wounded  ;  Sailing- Master 
William  Augustus  White  and  Peter  Adams,  the  boat 
swain  (the  latter  having  served  in  the  Constitution 
during  her  fight  with  the  Guerriere\  killed  at  the 
first  broadside ;  Midshipmen  Pollard  Hopewell,  John 
Evans,  Jr.,  and  Daniel  Burnham  also  killed;  Mid 
shipmen  William  A.  Weaver,  Edmund  M.  Russell  and 
William  Barry  wounded.  Second-Lieutenant  Budd 
and  Acting  Third-Lieutenant  Cox  were  below  in  charge 
of  their  divisions.  The  early  loss  of  the  sailing-master 
and  boatswain  was  an  irretrievable  disaster,  as  there 
were  so  few  able  seamen  in  the  ship,  and  there  is 
no  doubt  that  this  was  the  cause  of  the  Chesapeake*  s 
rigging  and  sails  remaining  entangled  at  this  critical 
moment.  Seeing  that  the  ships  were  about  to  foul, 
Boatswain  Stevens,  of  the  Shannon,  who  had  fought 
under  Rodney,  endeavored  to  lash  the  two  ships  to 
gether,  but  the  Americans  on  the  Chesapeake^  s  quarter 
deck  hacked  off  his  left  arm  with  their  cutlasses,  be 
sides  mortally  wounding  him. 

Captain  Lawrence  now  gave  the  order  for  the  board 
ers  to  be  called,  but  the  bugler,  a  negro  named  George 
Brown,  was  not  to  be  found  ;  and  at  the  same  moment 
an  arm  chest  on  the  quarter-deck  was  blown  up  by  a 
hand  grenade  thrown  from  the  Shannon  which  caused 
additional  confusion.  After  several  precious  minutes 
had  been  wasted  in  a  search  for  the  bugler  he  was 
discovered  under  the  stern  launch,  paralyzed  with 
terror  and  utterly  incapable  of  calling  the  boarders. 
Before  an  oral  order  could  be  conveyed  below,  the 
frigates  fouled  ;  and  Captain  Broke,  seeing  that  the 
Chesapeake^  s  boarders  were  not  in  readiness,  and  hav 
ing  all  his  marines  assembled  in  the  gangway,  and  the 
seamen  in  the  boats  and  at  the  booms  in  readiness  to 
spring,  threw  down  his  trumpet,  and,  calling  out  "Fol- 

32 


456  THE   CHESAPEAKE  AND  THE  SHANNON.  1813. 

low  me  who  can!"  stepped  aboard  the  Chesapeake* s 
quarter-deck. 

At  this  juncture  Captain  Lawrence,  "fatally  con 
spicuous  by  the  white  vest  and  other  habiliments  he 
had  assumed,"1  was  mortally  wounded  and  was  carried 
below.  Even  in  the  cockpit  he  continued  to  issue 
orders,  shouting:  "Keep  the  guns  going!"  "Fight 
her  till  she  strikes  or  sinks ! "  And  when  he  learned  that 
the  enemy  had  carried  the  spar  deck,  he  exclaimed : 
"Then  the  officers  of  the  deck  haven't  toed  the  mark. 
The  Shannon  was  whipped  when  I  left  the  deck."  His 
last  words  were,  "  Don't  give  up  the  ship  !  "2 

The  few  men  on  the  Chesapeake }s  quarter-deck  made 
a  "desperate  and  disorderly  resistance, "but,  not  being 
supported  by  their  comrades  below,  were  soon  cut  to 
pieces.  The  only  officer  on  deck  was  Mr.  Ludlow,  and 
he  was  so  weak  from  loss  of  blood  as  to  be  on  the  point 
of  fainting.  Samuel  Livermore,  of  Boston,  who  from 
a  personal  attachment  to  Captain  Lawrence  had  ac 
companied  him  as  chaplain,  seeing  the  fall  of  his  be 
loved  chief,  seized  a  pistol,  and,  though  almost  the 
only  American  on  the  quarter-deck,  deliberately  fired 
at  the  British  commander,  who  was  gallantly  leading 

1  Brighton's  Memoirs  of  Admiral  Broke,  p.  165. 

2  This  exclamation,  "  Don't  give  up  the  ship ! "  is  regarded  by  some 
writers  as  a  myth.     With  a  view  of  determining  this  question  the  author 
inquired  of  Sir  Provo  Wallis,  a  survivor  of  the  battle,  and  was  authorized 
by  him  to  publish  the  following  statement :  "  We  heard  that  when  they 
were  carrying  Captain  Lawrence  below,  mortally  wounded,  he  uttered  the 
words,  '  Don't  give  up  the  ship  ! '  "    It  hardly  seems  possible  that  such  a 
myth  could  be  invented  during  the  great  excitement  consequent  on  the 
termination  of  the  battle  and  immediately  after  have  reached  the  ears  of 
the  British  officers.     Myths  of  this  character  are  generally  the  productions 
of  some  gifted  pen  when  writing,  in  the  peaceful  security  of  a  study,  of 
events  long  after  their  occurrence.     An  officer  of  the  Chesapeake,  writing 
in  reference  to  the  voyage  of  these  ships  from  Boston  to  Halifax,  remarks: 
"  Captain  Broke  and  Captain  Lawrence  were  both  delirious  from  their 
wounds.    When  Captain  Lawrence  could  speak,  he  would  say,  '  Don't  give 
up  the  ship ! '     Evidently  the  words  were  firmly  impressed  on  his  mind  at 
the  time  of  the  battle." 


1813.  A  CRITICAL   MOMENT.  457 

his  boarders,  and  then  dashed  at  the  enemy  with  a 
broadsword.  The  bullet  missed  its  mark,  but  struck  a 
seaman.  Captain  Broke,  with  a  ''backward  stroke  of 
his  good  and  mighty  Toledo  blade," l  felled  the  patriot 
to  the  deck.  The  enemy  then  charged  along  both 
gangways  to  the  Chesapeake' s  forecastle. 

A  messenger  now  came  rushing  into  the  first  divi 
sion  of  the  gun  deck  below,  and  informed  Lieutenant 
Budd  for  the  first  time  that  the  enemy  had  boarded 
and  that  all  hands  were  called.  Mr.  Budd  instantly 
called  his  men,  but  the  raw  hands,  influenced  by  the 
foreigners,  held  back,  while  the  Portuguese  boatswain's 
mate,  who  led  in  the  murmurs  about  the  prize  checks, 
removed  the  gratings  of  the  berth  deck,  and,  shouting, 
"  So  much  for  not  paying  men  prize  money,"  ran  below, 
followed  by  many  of  the  other  malcontents.  Some 
American  seamen,  however,  followed  Lieutenant  Budd 
on  deck,  where  they  arrived  only  in  time  to  see  their 
gallant  commander  carried  below  and  the  enemy  in  full 
possession  of  the  quarter-deck.  Lieutenant  Budd,  with 
a  view  of  separating  the  frigates  and  so  cutting  off  the 
British  boarders  from  support,  ordered  the  fore  tacks 
to  be  hauled  aboard  ;  but  the  rigging  had  become  so 
entangled  that  it  was  impossible  to  perform  the  ma 
noeuvre.  On  attempting  to  gain  the  quarter-deck,  he 
was  wounded  and  hurled  to  the  deck  below,  badly 
stunned. 

All  this  time  the  Chesapeake' s  head  had  been 
gradually  swinging  around,  and  she  now  broke  away 
from  her  lashings  and  forged  across  the  Shannon's 
bow.  This  left  fifty  or  sixty  Englishmen  in  the  Ameri 
can  frigate  cut  off  from  support  and  retreat,  and,  had  the 
Chesapeake  been  manned  by  a  thoroughbred  American 
crew,  the  Englishmen  might  soon  have  been  overpow 
ered  and  the  result  of  the  action  of  June  1,  1813,  would 
have  been  far  different.  To  add  to  the  confusion  of 

1  Brighton's  Memoirs  of  Admiral  Broke. 


458  THE  CHESAPEAKE  AND  THE  SHANNON.  1813. 

the  English,  one  of  their  boarders  hauled  down  the 
American  colors  and  hoisted  it  again  with  the  white 
ensign  under  instead  of  over  it.  Seeing  this,  the 
Shannon  re- opened  fire,  and  at  the  first  discharge  took 
off  the  head  of  her  first  lieutenant,  George  Thomas  L. 
Watt,  who  was  standing  on  the  Chesapeake* s  quarter 
deck,  besides  killing  or  wounding  other  Englishmen 
near  him. 

Seeing  the  difficulty  the  enemy  was  in,  a  few 
Americans  on  the  forecastle  made  a  desperate  struggle 
to  regain  the  ship.  The  British  rallied  to  the  forecas 
tle,  and  a  short  but  fierce  encounter  took  place.  In 
the  melee  Captain  Broke  was  felled  to  the  deck  with 
the  blow  of  a  cutlass  on  the  head  which  laid  bare  sev 
eral  inches  of  his  brain.  An  American  seaman  fatally 
wounded  was  also  thrown  to  the  deck  beside  the  British 
commander,  and  although  in  his  death  agonies  he  still 
continued  to  fight.  Both  of  these  men  were  weak  from 
loss  of  blood,  so  that  their  struggle  was  feeble,  but 
none  the  less  deadly  in  purpose.  The  American  grap 
pling  with  the  British  commander  soon  got  the  upper 
most,  and,  having  picked  up  a  bayonet,  he  raised  the 
weapon  with  fast  ebbing  strength  to  strike  the  fatal 
blow,  while  Captain  Broke  endeavored  to  draw  his 
dagger.  At  this  moment  a  British  marine  rushed  up, 
and,  supposing  the  American  was  underneath,  was 
about  to  run  a  bayonet  through  his  own  commander, 
when  Captain  Broke  called  out,  "  Poh !  poh  !  You 
fool !  Don't  you  know  your  captain  1 "  Upon  which 
the  marine  changed  the  direction  of  the  blow  and  laid 
the  American  out  on  the  deck.  Owing  to  the  great 
loss  of  American  officers,  it  is  doubtful  if  there  was 
any  formal  surrender ;  certainly  the  news  of  it  was 
not  promptly  conveyed  to  the  seamen  in  the  different 
parts  of  the  ship,  and  they  received  no  orders  to  de 
sist  from  fighting.  In  consequence  of  this  confusion  a 
British  marine  standing  guard  at  the  main  hatchway 
was  shot  by  an  American  from  below,  and  the  British 


1813.  COMPARATIVE  FORCES  AND  LOSSES.  459 

retaliated  by  pouring  in  a  volley  of  musketry.  About 
this  time  Acting  Third-Lieutenant  Cox  gained  the  deck 
with  a  few  American  seamen  and  joined  the  boarders, 
supposing  them  to  be  the  Chesapeake 's  men,  but  he 
was  quickly  undeceived  by  saber  cuts. 

The  English  were  now  in  complete  possession  of  the 
ship.  Lieutenant  Wallis,  before  the  action  opened, 
handed  his  watch  to  a  seaman  who  was  stationed  in  the 
magazine,  remarking  :  "  You  will  be  safe  ;  should  any 
thing  happen  to  me,  give  this  to  my  father."  By  this 
watch  the  seaman  timed  the  firing,  and  "  by  it  we  knew 
that  the  cannonading  lasted  only  eleven  minutes."1 
The  boarding  occupied  only  a  few  minutes,  so  that 
Lieutenant  Budd's  official  report  that  the  action  lasted 
fifteen  minutes  is  fully  corroborated. 

The  Chesapeake* s  armament,  as  given  by  Sir  Provo 
Wallis,  who  took  command  of  her  immediately  upon 
her  surrender,  and  remained  there  for  a  week  after 
ward,  was  :  ' '  Main  deck,  twenty-eight  long  18-pound- 
ers ;  quarter-deck,  sixteen  short  32-pounders ;  forecas 
tle,  four  short  32-pounders  and  one  long  18-pounder, 
forty-nine  guns  in  all " ; 2  giving  a  total  actual  weight 
of  five  hundred  and  forty  pounds  to  the  broadside.  Out 
of  her  complement  of  three  hundred  and  forty  men  she 
lost  forty- seven  killed  and  ninety-nine  wounded,3  and 
fourteen  of  the  latter  afterward  died.  Perhaps  the  fact 
that  reflects  most  credit  is  that  the  loss  was  chiefly  con 
fined  to  the  American  portion  of  the  crew,  the  foreign 
ers  skulking  about  the  ship  seeking  to  escape  their  own 
officers  as  well  as  the  enemy.  Every  officer  was  either 
killed  or  wounded  so  early  in  the  action  that  no  one 
was  left  to  throw  the  signal-book  overboard  when  the 
enemy  boarded,  so  that  the  English  came  into  posses 
sion  of  all  the  American  private  signals.  This  book 
had  been  placed  on  the  cabin  table  and  shotted,  ready 


1  Admiral  Wallis  to  the  author.  2  Ibid. 

3  Official  report  of  Lieutenant  Budd. 


460  THE  CHESAPEAKE   AND  THE  SHANNON.  1813. 

to  be  thrown  overboard.  Five  of  the  Chesapeake* s 
men  were  held  as  deserters  ;  one  of  them  was  executed, 
and  the  others  were  sentenced  to  be  flogged  through 
the  fleet.  The  Shannon  carried  twenty-eight  long  18- 
pounders,  four  long  9-pounders,  one  long  6-pounder, 
sixteen  short  32-pounders  and  three  short  12-pounders, 
making  in  all  fifty-two  guns,  or  five  hundred  and  forty- 
seven  pounds  to  the  broadside.1  Her  complement  is 
given  at  three  hundred  and  thirty,  out  of  which  she 
lost  twenty-four  killed  and  fifty-nine  wounded  ; 2  total, 
eighty-three.  Three  of  the  British  sailors  had  their 
heads  taken  off  by  round  shot,  and  several  of  them 
were  literally  cut  in  two.  The  Chesapeake  was  struck 
by  twenty-five  32-pound  shot,  twenty-nine  18-pound 
shot,  two  9-pound  shot  and  three  hundred  and  six 
grapeshot,  many  of  the  round  shot  taking  eifect  at  the 
water's  edge.  On  her  weather  side  only  one  shroud 
was  left.  The  Shannon  was  struck  by  twelve  18-pound 
shot,  thirteen  32-pound  shot,  fourteen  bar  shot  and  one 
hundred  and  nineteen  grapeshot. 

Comparative  force  and  loss. 

Guns.        Lbs.          Crew.    Killed.  Wounded.  Total. 

Chesapeake:      49        540         340        47        99        146    j      Time 
Shannon:  52        547         330        24        59          83    [       15m. 

"There  has  been,  no  doubt,  a  great  deal  of  trash 
on  that  subject  [action  between  the  Chesapeake  and 
the  Shannon]  given  to  the  world."3  Unfortunately 
this  is  far  from  an  exaggeration  of  the  case.  Perhaps 
no  other  naval  encounter  of  this  war  called  from  con 
temporary  writers  and  newspapers  on  both  sides  of 
the  Atlantic  so  much  misrepresentation  and  exaggera- 

1  James'  History  of  the  British  Navy,  vol.  vi,  p.  53.     James,  it  will  be 
again  remarked,  has  departed  from  the  figures  given  in  the  official  report 
of  Captain  Broke,  which  gives  the  Shannon  but  forty-nine  guns.     James 
says  "the  Shannon  certainly  mounted  fifty-two  guns."     Yonge,  in  his 
Naval  History,  says  :  "  The  Shannon  was  a  fine  frigate,  with  fifty-two  guns." 

2  Official  report  of  Captain  Broke.  3  Admiral  Wallis  to  the  author. 


1813.  EFFECT  OF  THE   VICTORY.  461 

tion.  But  this  can  be  overlooked  on  the  plea  of  the 
intense  bitterness  then  existing  between  the  two  peo 
ples.  The  Americans  were  filled  with  profound  gloom 
and  an  unreasonable  loss  of  confidence  in  their  navy, 
while  the  English  gave  vent  to  extravagant  demonstra 
tions  of  joy,  simply  because  an  English  frigate  had 
captured  an  American  of  the  same  force.  The  news 
was  carried  to  England  in  the  brig  Nova  Scotia,  Lieu 
tenant  Bartholomew  Kent,  which  sailed  from  Halifax 
June  12th,  and  arrived  at  Plymouth  July  7th.  On  the 
following  evening  Lord  Cochrane  was  making  severe 
criticisms  in  Parliament  on  the  administration  of  the 
naval  war  with  the  United  States,  when  Mr.  Croker 
arose  to  answer  him  with  the  announcement  that  the 
Shannon  had  captured  the  Chesapeake.  This  was 
received  with  the  "loudest  and  most  cordial  acclama 
tions  from  every  part  of  the  House."  The  city  of  Lon 
don  presented  to  Captain  Broke  a  sword  and  the  free 
dom  of  the  city,  the  Tower  guns  were  fired,  and  Cap 
tain  Broke  was  made  a  baronet  of  the  United  Kingdom, 
and  soon  afterward  a  Knight  Commander  of  the  Bath. 
He  and  his  descendants  were  allowed  to  bear  the  fol 
lowing  crest  of  honorable  augmentation,  "Issuant  from 
a  naval  crown,  a  dexter  arm  embowed,  encircled  by  a 
wreath  of  laurel,  the  hand  grasping  a  trident  erect"; 
the  motto  was  ' '  Scevumque  tridentem  servamus. "  Con 
gress  voted  a  gold  medal  to  the  nearest  male  descend 
ant  of  Captain  Lawrence. 

But  above  all  partisan  discussion  one  fact  is  clear, 
which  is,  that  the  condition  of  the  Chesapeake  did  not 
justify  an  action  with  the  Shannon  on  the  1st  of  June, 
1813.  It  is  to  be  feared  that  Captain  Lawrence  had 
fallen  into  the  error  which  proved  to  be  the  stumbling- 
block  of  British  commanders  in  the  early  part  of  this 
war— an  underestimation  of  his  opponent's  prowess 
and  an  overestimation  of  his  own.  At  the  beginning 
of  the  contest  the  British  navy  had  attained  its  highest 
degree  of  success.  Now  that  the  American  navy  had 


462  THE   CHESAPEAKE  AND  THE  SHANNON.  1813. 

won  five  consecutive  and  signal  victories  over  the  mis 
tress  of  the  ocean  in  six  months,  the  national  pride 
was  unduly  puffed  up,  and  it  needed  but  a  single  de 
feat  to  prick  the  bubble  of  our  vanity.  Just  at  the 
culmination  of  this  series  of  brilliant  victories,  Captain 
Lawrence  returned  from  a  highly  successful  cruise. 
His  experience  with  the  Bonne  Citoyenne  and  the 
Espiegle,  and  his  splendid  and  easy  victory  over  the 
Peacock,  had  not  tended  to  raise  the  overboasted  Brit 
ish  naval  prowess  in  his  estimation  ;  and,  as  he  came 
home  flushed  with  victory  and  on  the  crest  wave  of 
national  success,  it  is  not  surprising  that  he  thought 
the  Chesapeake,  even  in  her  wretched  condition,  was 
able  to  cope  with  the  Shannon.  This  seems  the  more 
probable  when  we  remember  that  Captain  Lawrence 
could  not  have  known  of  the  superb  order  in  which  the 
latter  frigate  was  kept. 

M.  De  la  Graviere,  commenting  on  this  action  in  his 
Guerres  Maritimes,  vol.  ii,  page  272,  says:  "  Captain 
Broke  had  commanded  the  Shannon  for  nearly  seven 
years ;  Captain  Lawrence  had  commanded  the  Chesa 
peake  for  but  a  few  days.  The  Shannon  had  cruised 
for  eighteen  months  on  the  coast  of  America ;  the 
Chesapeake  was  newly  out  of  harbor.  The  Shannon 
had  a  crew  long  accustomed  to  habits  of  strict  obedi 
ence  ;  the  Chesapeake  was  manned  by  men  who  had 
just  been  engaged  in  mutiny.  The  Americans  were 
wrong  to  accuse  Fortune  on  this  occasion.  Fortune 
was  not  fickle,  she  was  merely  logical.  The  Shannon 
captured  the  Chesapeake  on  June  1,  1813,  but  on  Sep 
tember  14,  1806,  when  he  took  command  of  his  frigate, 
Captain  Broke  had  begun  to  prepare  the  glorious  ter 
mination  of  the  bloody  affair." 

Some  years  after  this  battle  a  British  naval  officer, 
while  dining  at  the  table  of  the  Duke  of  Wellington, 
was  indulging  in  extravagant  comments  on  Broke's 
victory  and  deprecating  the  American  naval  victories 
in  this  war.  Admiral  Sir  Isaac  Coffin,  who  was  pres- 


1813.  AFTER  THE   BATTLE.  463 

ent,  listened  to  the  foolish  talk  with  growing  impa 
tience,  and  finally  remarked  :  "It  was  a  lucky  thing 
for  your  friend  Broke  that  he  fell  in  with  the  unpre 
pared  Chesapeake,  and  not  with  Hull  and  the  Constitu 
tion.  If  he  had,  no  Tower  guns  would  have  been  heard 
celebrating  the  Shannon's  victory." 

The  passage  of  the  two  ships  to  Nova  Scotia  was 
melancholy  for  both  the  victors  and  the  vanquished. 
The  quiet  of  the  twilight  was  disturbed  by  the  groans 
of  the  wounded,  and  as  night  advanced  the  moon  rose, 
bringing  out  in  its  cold  light  the  sanguinary  work  of 
the  day.  Splashes  of  blood  were  seen  on  the  bul 
warks,  masts,  gangways  and  gun-carriages.  Coils  of 
rope  were  matted  with  gore  as  if  in  a  slaughter-house ; 
dead  men  were  lying  around  the  decks,  staring  with 
sightless  eyeballs  into  vacancy  ;  pieces  of  skin  and 
hair  adhered  to  different  portions  of  the  ship,  and  in 
one  place  the  fingers  of  a  man  protruded  from  the  bul 
warks  as  if  thrust  through  the  side  of  the  frigate.  The 
survivors  of  the  battle  moved  about  with  torn  clothing, 
bandaged  heads  and  splinted  arms,  and  those  who  were 
unhurt  were  busily  engaged  in  splicing  the  rigging  and 
repairing  damages.  At  nine  o'clock  the  dead  in  both 
frigates  were  collected  at  the  gangway,  shotted  and 
bound  in  canvas,  and  at  the  sublime  words  of  the  litur 
gy,  "to  be  turned  into  corruption,  looking  for  the  res 
urrection  of  the  body,  when  the  sea  shall  give  up  her 
dead,"  they  were  rapidly  yet  tenderly  dropped  over 
board  one  after  another  into  the  dark  sea. 

In  the  foggy  weather  of  the  second  evening  the 
monotony  of  the  voyage  was  suddenly  broken  aboard 
the  Shannon  by  the  shrill  piping  of  the  tune  Yankee 
Doodle.  The  American  prisoners  in  the  hold  pricked 
up  their  ears  in  eager  anticipation  of  recapture,  while 
the  British,  alarmed  at  the  unwonted  tune,  hastily 
armed  and  tumbled  up  on  deck  to  learn  the  cause 
of  it.  Their  anxiety  was  enhanced  by  the  belief  that 
the  frigates  President  and  Congress  were  in  that 


4:64:  THE   CHESAPEAKE  AND  THE  SHANNON.  1813. 

vicinity,  and  they  thought  it  possible  that  these  ships 
might  have  come  near  them  unawares  in  the  heavy 
fog,  and  that  the  piping  of  the  American  tune  might  be 
from  one  of  the  frigates.  Only  the  day  before  they 
had  fallen  in  with  two  ships  which  at  first  were  taken 
to  be  the  American  cruisers,  but  they  proved  to  be  the 
74-gun  ship  of  the  line  Scepter  and  the  frigate  Loire. 
The  cause  of  this  alarm,  however,  proved  to  be  the 
Shannon's  piper  playing  in  his  most  elaborate  style 
the  tune  that  had  startled  his  shipmates.  He  had 
been  ordered  to  do  this  by  Captain  Broke  himself,  who 
quaintly  remarked,  "I  thought  nothing  wpuld  cheer 
me  up  so  much  as  that  old  tune." 

Captain  Lawrence  received  every  kindness  and  at 
tention  from  the  British  officers.  His  own  cabin  was 
so  shattered  that  it  could  not  be  fitted  up  for  him,  so 
he  was  removed  to  the  wardroom.  Dr.  Jack,  the  Shan 
non's  surgeon  who  attended  him,  describes  Lawrence 
as  being  "  tractable,  gentle  and  docile,  as  the  brave  al 
ways  are  under  medical  treatment.  Few  inquiries 
were  necessary,  but  few  as  they  were  Lawrence  antici 
pated  nearly  all,  and  steadily  prognosticated  his  own 
decease.  4 1  know,'  said  he,  '  why  you  ask  that  ques 
tion  ;  my  own  surgeon  asked  me  the  same,  and  I  see 
from  it  that  there  is  no  hope  for  me.":  He  died  after 
suffering  several  days  of  intense  bodily  pain,  and  the 
more  acute  agony  of  a  proud  and  wounded  spirit. 
James  Todd,  of  Portland,  who  saw  Lawrence  in  Bos 
ton,  described  his  appearance  to  Rear- Admiral  George 
H.  Preble  as  follows  :  "  The  day  before  the  battle  Cap 
tain  Lawrence  came  into  the  shop  where  I  was  appren 
ticed,  with  a  lieutenant,  the  latter  desiring  to  have  a 
miniature  of  Captain  Lawrence  mounted.  During  the 
conversation  Captain  Lawrence  leaned  his  tall,  manly 
figure  over  the  showcase.  He  was  a  little  under  six 
feet,  and  broad  across  the  shoulders,  with  a  handsome 
manly  face  and  dark  hair,  with  side  whiskers  combed 
up,  and  shaved  under  the  ears  as  was  then  the  style. 


1813.  ARRIVAL  AT  HALIFAX.  465 

His  proportions  were  good  and  his  movements  were 
graceful,  and  he  carried  himself  as  one  born  to  com 
mand.  The  miniature  was  left  to  be  called  for,  but 
the  battle  was  fought  the  next  day  and  they  never  re 
turned."1 

It  was  Sunday  morning  when  the  Chesapeake  and 
the  Shannon  appeared  off  Halifax  harbor.  Lawrence, 
wrapped  in  the  American  colors,  lay  dead  on  the  quar 
ter-deck  of  the  Chesapeake.  Broke,  delirious  and  un 
conscious,  was  in  the  Shannon's  cabin.  Divine  serv 
ice  was  being  held  in  St.  Paul's  Church,  when  a  man 
was  seen  to  enter  hurriedly,  whisper  to  a  friend  in  the 
garrison  pew  and  hastily  withdraw.  The  effect  was 
electrical ;  the  news  flashed  from  pew  to  pew,  and  one 
by  one  the  worshipers  left  the  church,  until  finally  the 
clergyman,  scarcely  waiting  to  divest  himself  of  his 
surplice,  also  found  his  way  down  to  the  wharf.  "  In 
passing  up  the  bay,"  wrote  one  of  the  American  offi 
cers,  "  there  was  a  great  shout  from  the  people,  for 
they  thought  our  prize  was  the  44-gun  frigate  Presi 
dent,  which  had  incurred  their  cordial  dislike ;  but 
when  they  heard  that  it  was  the  Chesapeake,  and  that 
Lawrence,  her  commander,  was  dead,  not  a  huzza  was 
heard,  except,  I  believe,  from  a  brig  lying  at  anchor. 
Captain  Lawrence  was  highly  respected  for  his  human 
ity  to  the  crew  of  the  Peacock,  and  marks  of  real  grief 
were  seen  in  the  countenances  of  all  the  inhabitants  I 
had  a  chance  to  see.  I  can  truly  say  that  all  appeared 
to  lament  his  death,  and  I  heard  several  say  that  they 
considered  the  blood  which  had  been  shed  on  the  Chesa 
peake"  s  deck  as  being  as  dear  to  them  as  that  of  their 
own  countrymen.  On  the  day  of  the  funeral  I  saw  three 
mahogany  coffins  carried  on  board  the  Chesapeake.  In 
one  of  them  the  remains  of  Captain  Lawrence  were 
placed  and  then  rowed  in  a  twenty-oared  barge,  to  min 
ute  strokes,  to  the  shore,  followed  by  a  procession  of 

1  Rear- Admiral  Preble,  in  the  United  Service  Magazine,  p.  500. 


466  THE  CHESAPEAKE  AND   THE  SHANNON.  1813. 

boats  at  respectful  distances.  After  landing  at  King's 
Wharf,  a  regiment  of  troops  and  a  full  band  of  music 
playing  the  Dead  March  in  Saul  took  up  the  line  of 
march.  Six  of  the  oldest  navy  officers  in  port,  one 
of  them  being  Lieutenant  Samuel  Ely  the,  afterward 
killed  in  the  Boxer  in  her  action  with  the  Enterprise, 
carried  the  pall,  which  was  one  of  the  colors  of  the 
Chesapeake,  and  on  top  of  the  coffin  was  placed  Law 
rence's  sword.  The  procession  was  very  long,  and 
everything  was  conducted  in  the  most  solemn  and  re 
spectful  manner,  and  the  wounded  officers  of  both  na 
tions,  who  followed  the  procession,  made  the  scene 
very  affecting.  I  never  attended  a  funeral  in  my  life 
when  my  feelings  were  so  struck.  There  was  not  the 

least  mark  of  exultation  that 
I  saw,  even  among  the  com 
monest  people." 

About  six  weeks  after  this, 
George  Crowninshield,  Jr., 
and  ten  other  masters  of  ves 
sels  sailed  from  Boston,  in  the 
brig  Henry,  under  a  flag  of 
truce  to  Halifax,  where  the 
tomb.  Bodies  of  Lawrence  and  Lud- 

low  were  exhumed  and  brought  to  Boston  and  landed 
at  India  Wharf,  and  funeral  services  were  held  over 
them.  The  remains  were  then  carried  to  New  York, 
where  they  were  escorted  by  a  procession  from  the  Bat 
tery,  through  Greenwich  Street  to  Chambers  Street, 
then  down  Broadway  to  Trinity  churchyard,  where 
they  were  interred.1 


1  James  Lawrence  was  born  October  1,  1781,  in  Burlington,  N.  J.,  and 
was  educated  by  his  father  for  the  law,  but  preferring  the  sea,  he  received 
a  midshipman's  warrant  September  1,  1798,  and  served  under  Captain 
Tingey,  in  the  24-gun  cruiser  Ganges.  Within  two  years  he  was  made 
acting  lieutenant,  although  he  did  not  receive  his  commission  until  1802. 
From  1802  to  1804  Lawrence  distinguished  himself  while  first  lieutenant 
in  the  Enterprise  in  the  attacks  on  the  feluccas  before  Tripoli,  May,  1802. 


1813.  THE  CHESAPEAKE'S  FATE.  467 

Captain  Broke  never  fully  recovered  from  the  ef 
fects  of  his  wounds.  It  was  nearly  four  months  before 
he  was  able  to  sail  for  England.  He  was  not  again  ac 
tively  engaged  in  the  service,  and  spent  the  remaining 
years  of  his  life  in  London,  Shrubland  Park  (Lady 
Broke' s  previous  home),  and  at  Broke  Hall,  leading 
the  quiet  life  of  an  English  country  gentleman.  He 
died  while  on  a  visit  to  London,  in  Bayley's  Hotel, 
Berkeley  Square,  on  the  night  of  January  2,  1841. 
Like  Napoleon's,  his  spirit  passed  away  during  a  tre 
mendous  storm. 

An  account  of  the  celebrated  action  between  the 
Chesapeake  and  the  Shannon  would  not  be  complete 
without  a  brief  sketch  of  the  subsequent  careers  of  these 
two  ships.  The  Shannon  was  retained  in  the  service 
only  a  short  time  after  the  War  of  1812.  Two  frigates 
bearing  the  same  name  had  been  built  for  the  royal 
navy  and  lost — one  a  32-gun  frigate,  built  in  1796  and 
wrecked  in  1800,  the  othera36-gun  frigate,  launched  in 
1800,  which  in  the  same  year  ran  aground  under  the 
batteries  of  Cape  La  Hogue.  The  third  Shannon,  the 
one  that  fought  the  Chesapeake,  was  built  in  Chatham, 
Brindley's  yard,  in  1806,  and  some  years  after  the  War 
of  1812  was  broken  up. 

The  Chesapeake  met  a  far  different  fate.  After  her 
capture  by  Captain  Broke  she  was  taken  to  England, 
and  in  1820  her  timbers  were  sold  to  John  Prior, 
miller,  of  Wickham,  Hants.  Mr.  Prior  pulled  down 
his  mill  at  Wickham  and  erected  a  new  one  from 
the  CJiesapeake^s  timbers,  which  he  found  admirably 
adapted  for  the  purpose.  The  deck  beams  were  thirty- 
He  was  second  in  command  in  the  memorable  capture  of  the  Philadelphia 
in  the  harbor  of  Tripoli.  He  crossed  the  Atlantic  in  1805  in  a  gunboat, 
and  in  1808  he  became  first  lieutenant  in  the  Constitution,  and  in  the  fol 
lowing  year  was  commander  of  the  Vixen,  shortly  after  which  he  was 
promoted  to  the  Wasp.  His  next  ship  was  the  Argus,  and  in  1811  he  re 
ceived  the  command  of  the  Hornet,  in  which  he  achieved  his  brilliant  vic 
tory  over  the  Peacock.  For  this  service  he  was  made  commander  of  the 
Chesapeake. 


468  THE   CHESAPEAKE  AND  THE  SHANNON.    1820-1864. 

two  feet  long  and  eighteen  inches  square,  and  were 
placed,  unaltered,  horizontally  in  the  mill.  The  pur 
lins  of  the  deck  were  about  twelve  feet  long,  and  served 
without  alterations  for  joists.  Many  of  these  timbers 
still  bear  the  marks  of  the  Shannon's  grapeshot,  and 
in  some  places  the  shot  are  to  be  seen  deeply  imbedded 
in  the  pitch  pine.  The  metamorphosis  of  a  sanguinary 
man-of-war  into  a  peaceful  flour  mill  is  perhaps  as  near 
an  approach  to  the  Scriptural  prophecy  that  spears  and 
swords  shall  be  beaten  into  plows  and  pruning-hooks 
as  the  conditions  of  modern  civilization  will  allow. 

The  Rev.  Dr.  Brighton,  in  his  Memoirs  of  Sir  Philip 
B.  Y.  Broke,  gives  the  following  account  of  a  visit  to 
this  mill  in  1864:  ''Nothing  shiplike  or  of  the  sea 
was  discernible  from  without  the  mill.  A  comely 
young  Englishman  of  some  eight  and  twenty  years  of 
age  was  coming  forth  to  join  his  cricket  club  on  a 
neighboring  down,  and  this  proved  to  be  the  owner  of 
the  Chesapeake  Mill.  A  large  cigar  box,  constructed 
from  the  polished  pine  of  the  old  ship  and  bearing  the 
inscription  '  Chesapeake '  in  small  brass  nails,  stood 
upon  a  table.  The  beams  were  pock-marked  in  many 
places  with  grapeshot.  The  mill  was  merrily  going, 
but  as  I  stood  in  the  midst  of  this  peaceful  scene  I  re 
membered  that,  beyond  all  reasonable  doubt,  on  one  of 
these  planks  Lawrence  fell  in  the  writhing  anguish  of 
his  mortal  wound  ;  on  another,  if  not  the  same,  Watt's 
head  was  carried  away  by  a  shot ;  and  on  others  Broke 
lay  ensanguined,  and  his  assailants  dead,  while  near  by 
Ludlow  must  have  poured  out  his  life's  blood.  Thus 
pondering  I  stood,  and  still  the  busy  hum  went  on, 
wheat  passed  beneath  the  stones,  flour  poured  forth 
and  the  merry  millers  passed  around  their  kindly  smile 
and  blithesome  jest." 


CHAPTER  VIII. 

OPERATIONS    ON   THE   GREAT   LAKES. 

THE  possession  of  Lake  Ontario  and  Lake  Erie  was 
of  vital  importance  both  to  the  Americans  and  to  the 
English,  for  through  this  channel  re-enforcements  and 
supplies  were  forwarded  to  their  respective  armies  in 
the  West.  Perceiving  the  necessity  of  controlling 
these  lakes,  both  governments,  early  in  the  war,  took 
measures  for  building  and  maintaining  a  naval  force 
there.  In  this  the  Americans  had  to  surmount  great 
difficulties.  From  the  head  of  the  Hudson  to  the 
shores  of  Lake  Ontario  there  was  a  vast  wilderness, 
through  which  no  road  had  been  cut,  and  the  trail 
could  be  followed  only  by  Indians  and  experienced 
hunters.  The  route  taken  by  white  men  was  along  the 
waters  of  the  Mohawk  to  Oneida  Lake,  from  which 
place  they  reached  Lake  Ontario  by  Oswego  River, 
thence  coasting  along  the  shores  of  the  lake  to  Sackett's 
Harbor.  The  transportation  of  heavy  ordnance,  ammu 
nition,  stores  and  men  along  this  difficult  trail,  besides 
being  attended  with  many  dangers,  was  possible  only 
at  a  great  outlay  of  time  and  money,  and  even  after 
arrival  at  Sackett's  Harbor,  the  American  headquar 
ters  on  Lake  Ontario,  the  perils  of  the  journey  were 
by  no  means  over.  At  that  time  Oswego  consisted  of 
only  twenty-five  houses,  and  Sackett's  Harbor  of  a  few 
huts  and  a  blockhouse — places  where  money  was  un 
known  and  where  the  circulating  medium  was  salt,  one 
barrel  of  it  being  computed  at  two  dollars.  These  set 
tlements,  isolated  by  three  hundred  miles  of  wilder 
ness,  were  in  constant  danger  of  being  swept  away  by 

(469) 


4:70  OPERATIONS   ON   THE  GREAT  LAKES.      1679-1812. 

fire,  disease  or  famine,  and  were  continually  exposed 
to  Indian  assaults. 

On  the  other  hand,  the  English  were  able  to  reach 
these  lakes  with  comparative  ease.  In  accordance  with 
the  plan  of  the  French  ministers,  when  they  held  the 
Canadas  and  extensive  tracts  at  the  mouth  of  the  Mis 
sissippi,  to  merge  these  provinces  into  one  vast  domain, 
a  chain  of  trading  posts  had  been  established  along 
the  St.  Lawrence,  Lake  Ontario,  Lake  Erie  and  the 
Ohio  River,  and  down  the  Mississippi  to  New  Orleans. 
By  this  means  it  was  not  only  intended  to  cut  off  the 
English  colonist  from  the  West,  but,  as  this  mighty 
dominion  became  firmly  established  and  its  power  grew 
in  proportion  to  its  size,  it  was  hoped  that  it  would 
crowd  more  and  more  on  the  English  settlers,  and 
eventually  absorb  them  or  sweep  them  into  the  At 
lantic.  As  early  as  1678  De  la  Salle  launched  a  craft 
of  ten  tons  on  Lake  Ontario,  which  was  the  first  decked 
vessel  ever  on  those  waters,  and  in  1679  he  launched 
another  of  sixty  tons  on  Lake  Erie.  Nor  was  this 
scheme  an  idle  fancy  on  the  part  of  the  French 
Government.  No  one  was  more  sensible  of  the  power 
that  was  gradually  developing  and  tightening  its  folds 
around  him  than  the  English  colonist.  It  is  remark 
able  that  the  control  of  this  boundless  empire  should 
have  been  contested  by  so  few  combatants,  yet  practi 
cally  several  hundred  English  and  French  settlers  de 
cided  the  occupation  of  the  North  American  continent 
in  favor  of  one  race  to  the  exclusion  of  the  other. 
How  deep-rooted  the  French  power  had  become  was 
seen  when  the  Canadas  passed  under  British  rule. 
Their  trading-posts  formed  nuclei  of  permanent  settle 
ments,  which  rapidly  grew  into  villages  all  along  these 
water-ways.  While  the  English  were  building  them 
selves  up  on  the  coast,  the  French  had  flourishing 
towns  on  the  great  rivers  and  inland  seas,  which  con 
tinued  to  grow  in  size  and  number  ;  and  at  the  time  of 
the  War  of  1812  there  were  prosperous  towns  of  many 


1812. 


IMPORTANCE  OF  THE  GREAT  LAKES. 


471 


years  growth  scattered  along  the  lakes  in  the  pos 
session  of  the  British,  affording  secure  headquarters 
and  bases  for  operation.  The  principal  English  port 
on  Lake  Ontario  was  Kingston,  at  the  northeastern  ex 
tremity  of  the  lake.  Originally  it  was  the  old  French 
trading  post  Frontenac,  but  in  1812  it  was  a  town  of 
nearly  fifteen  hundred  inhabitants.  Opposite  Kings 
ton,  almost  within  sight,  was  the  precarious  hamlet  of 
Sackett's  Harbor. 

The  English  ministry  had  maintained  a  naval  force 
on  these  lakes  since  the  close  of  the  American  Revolu 
tion,  with  the  view  of  car 
rying  out,  at  the  first  op 
portunity,  the  original 
scheme  of  the  French, 


Scene  of  t7te  naval  operations  on  the  Great  Lakes. 

which  was  to  extend  Canadian  dominion  along  the 
Great  Lakes  and  down  the  Ohio  and  Mississippi  Rivers 
to  New  Orleans,  thus  cutting  off  the  United  States  from 
the  West.  The  London  press,  as  will  be  seen  by  the 
following,  already  regarded  the  Great  Lakes  as  belong 
ing  exclusively  to  Great  Britain.  tk  We  must  again 
and  again  call  upon  them  [the  ministers]  to  make  ar 
rangements  for  retrieving  the  temporary  subversion  of 
our  superiority  on  the  American  lakes.  They  are  a 
portion  of  our  marine  dominion,  which  must  on  no 


472  OPERATIONS  ON  THE  GREAT  LAKES.  1812. 

account  be  yielded."1  In  1812  the  British  naval  force 
on  Lake  Ontario  consisted  of  the  22-gun  ship  Royal 
George,  the  16-gun  ship  Prince  Regent,  the  14-gun 
ship  Earl  of  Moira,  the  14-gun  brig  Duke  of  Glouces 
ter,  the  4-gun  schooner  Seneca  and  the  12-gun  schoon 
er  Simcoe.  Opposed  to  this  squadron,  the  United 
States  had  only  the  16-gun  brig  Oneida,  Lieutenant 
Melancthon  Taylor  Woolsey,  built  as  a  revenue  cutter 
by  Christian  Bergh  and  Henry  Eckford,  and  launched 
at  Oswego  in  1809. 

On  the  19th  of  July  the  British  vessels,  under  the 
command  of  Captain  Earle,  aggregating  nearly  eighty 
guns,  sailed  from  Kingston  with  the  avowed  intention 
of  taking  or  destroying  the  Oneida.  Reaching  the  off 
ing  of  Sackett's  Harbor,  they  captured  a  custom-house 
boat,  which  was  then  sent  in  with  a  flag  of  truce  to 
demand  the  surrender  of  the  Oneida  and  the  schooner 
Lord  Nelson  (which  vessel  had  been  captured  by  the 
Oneida  in  May,  1812,  for  violating  the  revenue  laws), 
under  penalty  of  laying  the  town  in  ashes.  Lieutenant 
Woolsey  refused  to  surrender  his  vessels,  and  attempt 
ed  to  escape  from  the  harbor  with  a  view  of  separating 
the  British  ships  in  a  long  chase,  but  the  enemy  closed 
the  entrance  of  the  port  before  he  could  make  an  offing. 
Beating  back,  he  anchored  near  the  shore,  where  his 
broadside  could  rake  the  British  vessels  as  they  en 
tered  the  port.  All  the  guns  on  the  other  side  were 
then  landed  and  formed  into  a  battery  for  -the  further 
reception  of  the  enemy.  For  several  years  an  old 
32-pound  cannon  had  been  lying  on  the  shore,  im 
bedded  in  the  mud,  which  was  called  the  "  Old  Sow.'7 
Lieutenant  Woolsey  caused  this  gun  to  be  mounted  on 
a  hill  that  commanded  the  offing,  and  placed  it  under 
the  command  of  Sailing- Master  William  Yaughan.  As 
the  Americans  were  destitute  of  32-pound  shot,  they 
wrapped  pieces  of  carpet  around  24-pound  shot  in 

1  London  Times,  November  18,  1813. 


1812.  THE  BATTLE  ON  THE  ST.   LAWRENCE.  473 

order  to  make  them  fit  the  gun.  The  English  stood  on 
and  off  the  harbor,  keeping  up  a  desultory  fire  at  long 
range,  which  could  be  answered  only  by  the  32-pounder 
on  the  hill.  At  one  time  a  32-pound  shot  landed  near 
this  battery,  which  Sergeant  Spier  picked  up  and  fired 
back  just  as  the  Royal  George  was  wearing,  raking  her 
fore  and  aft.  It  raised  a  shower  of  splinters  as  high 
as  her  mizzen  topsail  yard,  killed  fourteen  men  and 
wounded  eighteen.  After  two  hours  of  distant  cannon 
ading  the  British  commander  made  sail  for  Kingston, 
abandoning  the  attempt  to  capture  Sackett's  Harbor, 
"  which  the  Royal  George  alone,  well  manned  and  ap 
pointed,  might  easily  have  accomplished."  ' 

The  Americans  soon  fitted  out  their  second  prize, 
the  Julia,  armed  with  one  long  32-pounder  and  two 
long  6-pounders,  and  on  the  evening  of  July  30th  sent 
her  to  Ogdensburg  with  a  crew  of  thirty  men,  under 
the  command  of  Midshipman  Henry  Wells,  with  orders 
to  convoy  six  schooners,  varying  from  thirty  to  one 
hundred  tons,  which  were  to  be  fitted  as  gunboats. 
The  Julia  was  piloted  by  Messrs.  Vaughan  and  Dixon, 
and  she  also  had  a  rifle  corps  commanded  by  Noadiah 
Hubbard,  At  three  o'clock  on  the  afternoon  of  July  31, 
while  among  the  Thousand  Islands,  eleven  miles  above 
Ogdensburg,  the  Julia  was  attacked  by  the  14-gun  ship 
Earl  of  Moira  and  the  14-gun  brig  Duke  of  Gloucester , 
and  for  three  hours  a  desultory  action  was  maintained. 
At  one  time  the  Duke  of  Gloucester  hauled  up  within 
half  a  mile  of  the  Julia  and  was  running  down  to  close, 
when  two  well-directed  shot  from  the  American  32- 
pounder  induced  her  to  sheer  off.  Both  the  British 
vessels  then  withdrew  to  the  Canadian  shore,  leaving 
the  Julia  in  undisputed  possession  of  the  river,  and  at 
eight  o'clock  that  evening  Midshipman  Wells,  with  the 
aid  of  flashes  of  lightning,  made  his  way  to  Ogdens 
burg,  "  having  actually  beat  off,  without  losing  a  man, 

1  James'  History  of  the  British  Navy,  vol.  vi,  p.  102. 


4-74  OPERATIONS  ON   THE   GREAT  LAKES.  1812. 

the  Earl  of  Moira  and  the  Duke  of  Gloucester  " 1  The 
Julia  was  struck  by  only  one  shot,  while  the  Earl  of 
Moira  was  hulled  several  times.  In  the  armistice  that 
followed  the  Julia  and  the  six  schooners  were  taken  to 
Sackett's  Harbor. 

On  the  31st  of  August,  1812,  Captain  Isaac  Chaun- 
cey,  who  had  taken  a  prominent  part  in  the  war  with 
Tripoli,  was  ordered  to  the  command  of  the  naval 
operations  on  the  Great  Lakes.  At  this  time  Captain 
Chauncey  was  in  the  Brooklyn  Navy  Yard,  and  on  the 
1st  of  September  he  dispatched  over  forty  ship  carpen 
ters  to  Sackett's  Harbor.  On  the  18th  one  hundred 
officers  and  seamen,  with  guns,  munitions  of  war  and 
stores,  also  began  the  tedious  journey,  and  by  the 
6th  of  October  Captain  Chauncey  arrived  in  person. 
Schooners  of  thirty  to  forty  tons  were  immediately 
purchased  and  mounted  with  guns,  and  the  sailors 
were  initiated  in  the  peculiarities  of  lake  navigation. 
The  schooners  thus  hastily  fitted  out  were  the  Hamil 
ton,  the  Governor  TompJcins,  the  Conquest,  the  Growl 
er,  the  Julia  and  the  Pert.  None  of  these  vessels 
were  adapted  for  war  purposes,  but  the  urgency  of  the 
occasion  necessitated  their  employment.  The  keel  of 
a  24-gun  ship  was  then  laid,  so  as  to  be  ready  for 
launching  in  the  following  spring. 

Soon  after  Chauncey's  arrival  he  dispatched  Lieu 
tenant  Jesse  Duncan  Elliott  to  Lake  Erie  with  instruc 
tions  to  purchase  any  vessel  that  could  be  procured,  for 
the  purpose  of  forming  the  nucleus  of  a  naval  force  on 
that  lake.  The  only  armed  American  vessel  that  had 
been  on  Lake  Erie  was  the  brig  Adams,  and  by  the 
surrender  of  Michigan  she  fell  into  the  enemy's  hands, 
who  took  her  into  their  service  under  the  name  De 
troit.  On  the  afternoon  of  October  7th,  Lieutenant 
Elliott,  observing  that  the  Detroit,  Lieutenant  Roulette, 
and  the  Caledonia,  commanded  by  Mr.  Irvine,  mounting 

1  James'  History  of  the  British  Navy,  vol.  vi,  p.  102. 


1812.     CAPTURE   OF  THE   CALEDONIA   AND   DETROIT.       475 

two  light  guns,  and  manned  by  twelve  men,  had  come 
down  the  lake  and  anchored  at  Fort  Erie,  determined 
to  attempt  their  capture.  Applying  to  Brigadier-Gen 
eral  Smythe,  commander  of  the  American  troops  in 
that  region,  he  obtained  the  necessary  arms  and  ammu 
nition  for  fifty  sailors  who  arrived  that  afternoon,  be 
sides  the  services  of  fifty  soldiers  who  volunteered,  un 
der  the  command  of  Captain  Nathan  Towson.  Early  in 
the  evening,  the  party,  embarking  in  two  barges  and 
several  boats,  pulled  out  of  Buffalo  Creek.  Lieuten 
ant  Isaac  Roach,  of  the  artillery,  and  Ensign  William 
Pressman,  of  the  infantry,  were  in  Lieutenant  Elliott's 
boat,  while  Master's  Mates  William  Peckham,  J.  E. 
McDonald,  John  S.  Cummings,  Edward  Wilcox,  and 
Boatswain's  Mates  Lawrence  Hanson,  John  Rack  and 
James  Morell  were  in  the  other  boats.  In  crossing  the 
bar  at  the  mouth  of  Buffalo  Creek  the  barges  grounded, 
but  the  men  jumped  out  and  the  boats,  thus  lightened, 
were  floated  over.  After  making  a  wide  detour,  the 
men  neared  the  object  of  the  expedition  about  mid 
night.  Greater  caution  was  now  exercised,  but  in 
spite  of  their  care  the  leading  boat,  commanded  by 
Sailing-Master  Thomas  Watts,  while  crossing  the 
Caledonia's  bow,  was  discovered  and  challenged  by  a 
sentinel.  Further  concealment  being  impossible,  the 
men  bent  to  their  oars  and  dashed  alongside,  receiving 
two  volleys  of  musketry.  When  they  gained  the  deck 
of  the  schooner  there  was  a  short  struggle,  but  the  ene 
my  was  overpowered.  The  Americans  then  hastened 
to  secure  their  prizes  by  cutting  the  moorings  and 
towing  them  out.  The  Caledonia  was  brought  safely 
over  to  the  American  side,  but  the  Detroit,  owing  to 
the  darkness,  grounded  on  Squaw's  Island,  in  Magara 
River  just  below  Buffalo,  and  at  break  of  day  the 
Americans  abandoned  her,  after  securing  the  prison 
ers.  About  10  A.  M.  a  company  of  British  regulars 
pulled  down  to  the  island  with  the  intention  of  de 
stroying  the  military  stores  with  which  she  was  laden, 


476  OPERATIONS  ON   THE  GREAT   LAKES.  1812. 

but  were  driven  back  by  a  party  of  Americans,  who, 
after  securing  a  large  portion  of  the  cargo,  fired  the 
prize  and  then  escaped  to  the  mainland.  The  Detroit 
mounted  six  long  9-pounders  and  had  a  crew  of  sixty 
men,  while  the  Caledonia  carried  two  guns  and  twelve 
men,  and  had  a  cargo  of  fur  valued  at  one  hundred 
and  fifty  thousand  dollars.  Fifty  prisoners  were  taken 
and  about  forty  men  of  General  Hull's  army  were  re 
captured.  The  American  loss  was  one  killed  and  four 
wounded,  among  the  latter  being  Master's  Mate  Cum- 
mings.1  The  enemy's  loss  is  not  definitely  known,  but 
was  considerably  heavier  than  that  of  the  Americans. 
For  this  handsome  affair  Congress  presented  Lieuten 
ant  Elliott  with  a  sword,  and  in  July,  1813,  he  was  pro 
moted  to  the  rank  of  master-commandant. 

On  the  28th  of  November  a  party  of  eighty-two  sea 
men  from  the  28-gun  corvette  John  Adams  (which  had 
been  laid  up  in  New  York),  under  Sailing-Master  Sam 
uel  Angus,  with  a  detachment  of  one  hundred  and 
fifty  soldiers  under  Captain  King,  made  an  attack  on 
the  British  batteries  on  Niagara  River.  After  a  gal 
lant  assault  the  English  were  put  to  flight,  their  guns 
spiked  and  thrown  into  the  river,  some  barracks  were 
burned  and  their  commander  was  made  prisoner  ;  but 
owing  to  the  confusion  of  the  moment  a  number  of  the 
Americans  were  left  behind,  the  main  body  having  re 
turned  in  the  boats.  After  some  search  two  boats 
were  found  in  which  most  of  the  remaining  Americans 
escaped,  but  Captain  King  and  a  few  soldiers  were 
taken  prisoners.  The  American  loss  was  about  twenty 
killed  or  wounded,  while  that  of  the  enemy  must  have 
been  much  heavier.  Sailing-Master  Angus  was  des 
perately  wounded  on  the  head  by  a  blow  from  the 
butt  of  a  musket,  Sailing-Masters  Alexander  Sisson 
and  Thomas  Watts  were  mortally  wounded,  Sailing- 
Master  John  K.  Carter  and  Midshipman  Joseph  Wragg 

1  Official  report  of  Lieutenant  Elliott. 


1812.  CHATJNCEY  APPEARS  ON  THE  LAKES.  477 

were  wounded,  while  Midshipman  John  Hodges  Gra 
ham,  afterward  commodore,  lost  a  leg.  Midshipman 
Holdup-Stevens,  afterward  captain,  was  shot  through 
the  leg,  and  Midshipman  William  Mervine,  afterward 
captain,  received  a  musket  ball  in  his  side. 

On  the  8th  of  November,  a  cold,  raw,  blustering 
day,  such  as  only  the  dwellers  on  the  Great  Lakes  have 
experienced,  Captain  Chauncey  appeared  on  Lake  On 
tario  with  his  squadron,  wearing  his  broad  pennant  on 
the  16-gun  brig  Oneida,  Lieutenant  Woolsey.  The 
other  vessels  of  the  squadron  were  the  3-gun  schooner 
Conquest,  Lieutenant  Elliott ;  the  9-gun  schooner  Ham 
ilton,  Lieutenant  Macpherson ;  the  6-gun  schooner 
Governor  Tompldns,  Midshipman  Brown ;  the  3-gun 
schooner  Pert,  Sailing- Master  Robert  Arundel ;  the  2- 
gun  schooner  Julia,  Sailing-Master  James  Trant ;  and 
the  2- gun  schooner  Growler,  Sailing-Master  Elijah  Mix. 
On  the  9th  of  November  the  Royal  George  was  discov 
ered  off  False  Ducks,  and  on  being  chased  ran  into 
Kingston.  At  three  o'clock  on  the  following  day  Cap 
tain  Chauncey  made  an  attack  on  the  batteries  of  this 
place  for  the  double  purpose  of  reconnoitering  and  de 
stroying  the  Royal  George.  Lieutenant  Elliott,  in  the 
Conquest,  led  the  advance,  closely  followed  by  the 
Julia,  the  Pert,  the  Growler  and  the  Oneida.  The 
Oneida,  in  spite  of  a  hot  fire,  would  have  brought  the 
Royal  George  into  close  action  had  not  the  latter  fled 
from  her  anchorage  and  moored  alongside  the  wharf, 
where  troops  from  the  fort  assembled  in  such  numbers 
that  it  was  impossible  to  board  her.  The  Governor 
Tompkins  and  the  Hamilton  also  engaged  in  gallant 
style,  but  finding  that  it  was  impossible  to  capture  the 
Royal  George  the  Americans  beat  out  of  the  harbor. 
In  this  spirited  affair  the  Oneida  lost  one  man  killed 
and  three  wounded,  while  Sailing-Master  Arundel,  al 
though  severely  wounded  by  the  bursting  of  one  of 
the  Perils  guns,  refused  to  leave  the  deck ;  afterward 
he  was  knocked  overboard  and  drowned. 


478  OPERATIONS  ON  THE  GREAT  LAKES.      1812-1813. 

Next  day  the  Governor  Tompkins,  the  Hamilton 
and  the  Julia  chased  the  Simcoe,  but  she  escaped  over 
the  reefs,  although  Lieutenant  Macpherson  followed 
her  into  nine  feet  of  water.  The  Simcoe  was  so  riddled 
with  shot  that  she  sank  before  reaching  Kingston.  On 
returning  to  port  the  American  squadron  captured  sev 
eral  vessels,  in  one  of  which  was  Captain  Brock,  a 
brother  of  General  Brock.  Shortly  after  this  the  Onei- 
da  offered  battle  to  the  Royal  George  and  two  schoon 
ers,  but  the  latter  fled  on  the  approach  of  the  Ameri 
can  ship.  The  Conquest,  the  Governor  TompMns,  the 
Growler  and  the  Hamilton  continued  to  cruise  off 
Kingston  until  the  17th  of  November,  but  two  days 
later  the  Growler  was  dismasted  in  a  gale.  Soon  after 
this  ice  began  to  form  in  the  lake  and  closed  naviga 
tion  until  the  following  spring. 

During  the  winter  of  1812-' 13  both  Governments 
made  great  efforts  to  construct  a  naval  force  that 
would  control  these  lakes,  and  on  the  26th  of  Novem 
ber,  1812,  the  Americans  launched  the  24-gun  ship 
Madison.  By  the  spring  of  1813  the  British  force  on 
Lake  Ontario  consisted  of  the  24-gun  ship  General 
Wolfe,  the  22-gun  ship  Royal  George,  the  16-gun 
schooner  Prince  Regent,  the  14-gun  ship  Earl  of  Moi- 
ra,  the  14-gun  brig  Melville,  the  14-gun  schooner  Duke 
of  Gloucester,  the  12-gun  schooner  Simcoe,  the  12-gun 
schooner  Sidney  Smith,  the  8-gun  schooner  Beresford, 
the  4-gun  schooner  Seneca — in  all  ten  vessels — be 
sides  gunboats  mounting  one  hundred  and  forty  guns. 
The  rig  of  several  of  these  vessels  had  been  changed 
from  ship  rig  to  schooner  rig. 

On  the  25th  of  April  Captain  Isaac  Chauncey  sailed 
from  Sackett's  Harbor  with  seventeen  hundred  troops 
under  Brigadier-General  Zebulon  Montgomery  Pike 
for  an  attack  on  York,  now  Toronto,  and  two  days  later 
arrived  off  that  place.  The  American  squadron  con 
sisted  of  the  24-gun  ship  Madison  (flagship),  Lieutenant 
Jesse  D.  Elliott ;  the  16-gun  brig  Oneida,  Lieutenant 


1813.  THE   CAPTURE   OF  TORONTO.  479 

Melancthon  Taylor  Woolsey  ;  the  2-gun  schooner  Fair 
American,  Lieutenant  Wolcott  Chauncey  ;  the  9-gun 
schooner  Hamilton,  Lieutenant  Joseph  S.  Macpher- 
son ;  the  6-gun  schooner  Governor  Tompkins,  Mid 
shipman  Brown  ;  the  3-gun  schooner  Conquest,  Sail 
ing-Master  Mallaby  ;  the  2-gun  schooner  Asp,  Sailing- 
Master  Smith  ;  the  3-gun  schooner  Pert,  Sailing-Mas- 
ter  Adams  ;  the  2-gun  schooner  Julia,  Sailing-Master 
James  Trant ;  the  10-gim  schooner  Scourge,  Sailing- 
Master  Osgood  ;  the  2-gun  schooner  Growler,  Sailing- 
Master  Elijah  Mix  ;  the  3-gun  schooner  Lady  of  tlie 
Lake,  Sailing-Master  Flinn  ;  the  2-gun  schooner  On 
tario,  Sailing-Master  Joseph  Stevens  ;  and  the  trans 
port  Raven — in  all  fourteen  vessels,  mounting  eighty- 
four  guns.  The  landing  was  effected  with  great  steadi 
ness,  although  forty  soldiers  and  fourteen  seamen  were 
killed  or  wounded.1  The  smaller  vessels  then  ran  in, 
and,  taking  positions  within  six  hundred  yards  of  the 
batteries,  opened  an  effective  fire.  The  forts  and  the 
town  were  carried  in  gallant  style,  but  by  an  explosion 
in  the  magazine  the  Americans  suffered  a  heavy  loss, 
among  the  killed  being  General  Pike.  Of  the  naval 
force  four  were  killed,  including  Midshipmen  John 
Hatfield  and  Thompson,  and  ten  were  wounded.  Burn 
ing  a  large  vessel  on  the  stocks  and  capturing  the  14- 
gun  schooner  Duke  of  Gloucester  and  a  large  amount 
of  naval  and  military  stores,  Captain  Chauncey  re 
turned  to  Sackett's  Harbor  in  triumph.  Among  the 
trophies  carried  off  by  the  Americans  was  a  royal 
standard  of  the  United  Kingdom,  probably  the  first 
ever  taken  from  the  English.  It  is  preserved  in  the 
Naval  Institute  Building  at  Annapolis. 

On  the  6th  of  May  the  British  troop-ship  Woolwich 
arrived  at  Quebec  from  Spithead,  with  Captain  Sir 
James  Lucas  Yeo,  four  commanders  of  the  navy,  twen 
ty-four  midshipmen  and  about  four  hundred  and  fifty 

1  Official  report  of  Captain  Chatmeey. 


480  OPERATIONS  ON  THE   GREAT  LAKES.  1813. 

picked  seamen,  "sent  out  by  the  British  Government 
expressly  for  service  in  the  Canadian  lakes."  Captain 
Yeo  commanded  the  Southampton  when  that  frigate 
and  her  prize,  the  Vixen,  were  wrecked  on  Concepcion 
Island,  of  the  Bahama  group.  Such  was  the  zeal  of 
the  officers  and  men  to  get  to  the  scene  of  action  that 
they  departed  the  same  evening  for  Montreal. 

Having  stationed  the  Fair  American  and  the  Pert 
off  Kingston  to  watch  the  enemy,  Captain  Chauncey 
sailed  with  the  remainder  of  his  squadron  for  Fort 
George.  Approaching  Magara  River  on  the  26th  of 
May,  the  Americans  sounded  along  the  shore  and  laid 
buoys  for  the  guidance  of  their  vessels  during  the 
attack.  On  the  same  day  Master-Commandant  Oliver 
Hazard  Perry  came  down  from  Lake  Erie  and  was  as 
signed  to  the  difficult  task  of  debarking  the  troops. 
At  3  A.  M.  on  the  27th  the  Governor  TompJcins,  Mid 
shipman  Brown,  and  the  Conquest,  Midshipman  Thom 
as  Petigru,  drew  up  to  the  batteries  and  opened  such 
an  effective  fire  that  the  enemy  was  soon  fleeing  in 
all  directions.  The  boats  under  Master-Commandant 
Perry  and  Colonel  Winfield  Scott  then  pulled  from  the 
cover  of  the  schooner  and  made  a  dash  for  the  landing. 
Just  then  a  detachment  of  soldiers,  wrhich  had  been 
concealed  in  a  ravine,  opened  fire  with  great  effect  on 
the  crowded  boats,  but  nothing  could  check  the  impetu 
osity  of  the  men,  and  the  two  divisions  vied  with  each 
other  to  be  first  at  the  landing.  The  boats  under  Colo 
nel  Scott  arrived  first,  and  the  men,  unmindful  of  the 
storm  of  bullets  that  fell  among  them,  scrambled  out  of 
their  boats,  hastily  formed  a  line,  and  with  a  cheer 
drove  the  enemy  from  cover  into  a  disorderly  retreat. 
In  this  spirited  affair  the  American's  loss  was  seventeen 
killed  and  forty- five  wounded,1  while  that  of  the  enemy 
is  estimated  at  ninety  killed,  one  hundred  and  sixty 
wounded  and  about  one  hundred  prisoners. 

1  Official  report  of  General  Dearborn. 


1813.          SECOND  ATTACK  ON  SACKETT'S  HARBOR.  481 

While  the  American  squadron  was  thus  engaged  at 
the  southern  end  of  the  lake,  Sir  George  Prevost,  taking 
advantage  of  the  unprotected  condition  of  Sackett's 
Harbor,  determined  to  attack  that  place  and  destroy 
all  the  stores  there  collected.  According  to  the  Eng 
lish  account  of  this  affair,  "  Sir  George  Prevost  now 
allowed  himself  to  be  persuaded  to  embark  seven  hun 
dred  and  fifty  troops  on  board  the  squadron  for  the  pur 
pose  of  making  an  attack  upon  Sackett's  Harbor  ;  but 
to  mar  the  successful  issue  of  the  plan  he  resolved  to 
head  the  troops  himself.  On  the  27th  of  May,  when 
an  excellent  opportunity  was  afforded  by  the  absence  of 
the  American  squadron  at  the  opposite  end  of  the  lake, 
the  British  squadron,  in  high  glee,  sailed  from  Kings 
ton,  and  with  a  fair  wind  stood  across  to  the  enemy's 
depot.  At  noon  the  squadron  arrived  off  Sackett's 
Harbor  and  lay  to,  with  everything  in  readiness  for 
the  troops  to  disembark.  Sir  George  hesitated,  looked 
at  the  place,  mistook  trees  for  troops  and  blockhouses 
for  batteries,  and  ordered  the  expedition  to  put  back. 
Just  as  the  ships  had  turned  their  heads  toward  King 
ston,  and,  with  the  wind  now  changed,  were  beginning 
to  sail  before  it,  about  fifty  Indians  brought  off  a  party 
of  American  soldiers  from  the  shore  near  Sackett's 
Harbor.  Encouraged  by  this,  Sir  George  permitted  the 
squadron  to  begin  working  its  way  back  to  the  Ameri 
can  port.  On  the  morning  of  the  29th  some  of  the 
lighter  vessels  got  close  to  the  shore,  and  the  troops 
were  landed.  They  drove  the  Americans  like  sheep, 
compelled  them  to  set  fire  to  the  General  Pike,  a  new 
frigate  on  the  stocks,  the  Duke  of  Gloucester,  captured 
at  York,  and  a  barrack  containing,  among  other  valu 
able  articles,  all  the  naval  stores  taken  on  the  same 
occasion.  At  this  moment  some  resistance  unexpected 
ly  made  at  a  barrack  caused  the  British  commander  in 
chief  to  sound  a  retreat.  The  indignant,  the  victorious 
officers  and  men  were  compelled  to  obey  the  fatal 
bugle,  and  the  British  retired  to  their  vessels,  and  the 


482  OPERATIONS  ON  THE   GREAT  LAKES.  1813. 

Americans,  as  soon  as  they  could  credit  their  senses, 
hastened  to  stop  the  conflagration.  The  General  Pike, 
being  built  of  green  wood,  was  saved,  but  the  Duke  of 
Gloucester  and  the  barracks  containing  the  stores  were 
entirely  consumed.  That  Sir  George  Prevost  was  as 
fond  of  writing  official  letters  as  he  was  of  substituting 
the  first  personal  pronoun  for  the  third,  has  already 
appeared  in  these  pages  ;  but  in  the  present  instance, 
contrary  to  all  precedents,  he  required  his  adjutant, 
Colonel  Edward  Baynes,  to  pen  the  dispatch.  That 
obedient  gentleman  did  so,  and  the  European  public 
scarcely  know  at  this  hour  through  whose  fault  it  was 
that  Sackett's  Harbor  was  not  taken  from  the  Ameri 
cans  in  May,  1813.  The  Canadian  public,  besides  be 
ing  in  the  secret,  were  less  surprised  at  the  result  of 
the  enterprise,  because  they  knew  that  Sir  George,  a 
few  months  before,  had  rejected  an  excellent  oppor 
tunity  of  marching  across  the  ice  to  Sackett's  Harbor 
and  destroying  the  whole  American  lake  navy  at  a 
blow."  The  American  force  stationed  at  Sackett's 
Harbor  at  the  time  of  Sir  George  Prevost's  attack  con 
sisted  of  four  hundred  regulars  under  General  Jacob 
Brown,  besides  some  militia.  Their  loss  was  one  hun 
dred  and  fifty  killed  or  wounded,  while  that  of  the 
enemy  is  given  at  fifty- two  killed  and  two  hundred  and 
eleven  wounded.2 

On  the  14th  of  June  the  Lady  of  the  Lake,  Lieu 
tenant  Wolcott  Chauncey,  left  Sackett's  Harbor  to  in 
tercept  British  supply  ships,  and  on  the  16th  she 
chased  and  overhauled  the  schooner  Lady  Murray, 
laden  with  provisions  and  ammunition.  She  then  re 
turned  to  Sackett's  Harbor  with  her  prize  and  twenty- 
one  prisoners,  among  whom  were  Ensign  George  Charles 
Merce  and  several  noncommissioned  officers  of  the 
Forty-first  and  One  Hundred  and  Fourth  Regiments. 

1  James'  History  of  the  British  Navy,  vol.  vi,  p.  104. 

2  Military  Occurrences  between  Great  Britain-  and  the  United  States, 
p.  173. 


1813.     LOSS  OF   THE   HAMILTON  AND  THE  SCOURGE.       £83 

In  the  latter  part  of  July  Captain  Channcey  sailed 
with  his  squadron  for  Niagara,  arriving  at  that  port  on 
the  27th.  This  force  consisted  of  thirteen  vessels,  car 
rying  one  hundred  and  nine  guns  ;  only  three  of  these 
vessels,  however,  were  adapted  for  war  purposes  ;  the 
schooners  could  not  be  fought  within  canister  dis 
tance,  their  bulwarks  being  so  low  as  to  afford  no  pro 
tection  to  their  crews.  Besides  this,  they  were  so  light 
that  their  guns  could  be  used  only  in  smooth  water. 

On  the  morning  of  the  7th  of  August  the  British 
squadron  was  discovered  coming  down  the  lake,  and, 
notwithstanding  the  advantage  the  enemy  had  in  a 
compact  force  and  superior  metal,  Captain  Chauncey 
determined  on  a  general  engagement.  Captain  Yeo's 
squadron  consisted  of  six  vessels,  mounting  ninety-four 
guns.  About  9  A.  M.  the  General  Pike  hoisted  her  col 
ors  and  fired  several  guns  at  the  General  Wolfe,  but 
the  shot  fell  short,  upon  which  the  American  squad 
ron  hauled  up  to  the  wind  and  went  on  the  other  tack. 
The  British  ships  imitated  the  manoeuvre,  but  finding 
that  the  General  Pike  would  weather  him,  Sir  James 
Yeo  drew  away  to  the  north.  The  American  vessels 
made  sail  in  chase,  but  as  the  wind  was  failing  Cap 
tain  Chauncey  gave  the  signal  of  recall.  That  night 
the  wind  came  on  in  violent  squalls,  and  the  American 
crews  were  constantly  on  duty  endeavoring  to  weather 
the  enemy.  When  morning  broke  it  was  discovered 
that  the  9-gun  schooner  Hamilton,  Lieutenant  Walter 
Winter,  and  the  10-gun  schooner  Scourge,  Sailing-Mas 
ter  Joseph  Osgood,  had  been  capsized  and  only  sixteen 
men  were  saved.  By  this  disaster  Captain  Chauncey's 
force  was  reduced  to  eleven  vessels  and  ninety  guns. 
The  Hamilton  and  the  Scourge  were  the  most  valuable 
schooners  in  the  squadron,  the  others  being  so  light, 
and  such  indifferent  sailers,  as  to  impede  the  move 
ments  of  the  larger  vessels. 

Early  on  the  following  morning  the  enemy  was  seen 
coming  down  to  engage,  but  when  about  three  miles 


484:  OPERATIONS  ON  THE  GREAT  LAKES.  1813. 

distant  they  hauled  about  and  stood  away  on  the  other 
tack.  The  American  vessels  then  hauled  off  from  the 
shore,  hoping  that  the  land  breeze  in  the  afternoon 
would  enable  them  to  close,  but  in  the  afternoon  it 
fell  calm,  whereupon  the  Americans  resorted  to  their 
sweeps.  The  light  schooners  soon  drew  ahead  of  the 
larger  craft  and  were  nearly  in  range  of  the  enemy, 
when  a  fresh  westerly  breeze  gave  Captain  Yeo  the 
weather  gage  and  placed  the  schooners  in  a  critical 
position,  for  their  support  was  some  distance  astern. 
Seeing  their  advantage,  the  British  crowded  all  sail  to 
close  on  the  schooners  before  the  General  Pike,  the 
Madison  and  the  Oneida  could  come  to  the  rescue ; 
but  by  a  free  use  of  their  sweeps  and  sails  the  schoon 
ers  regained  their  position  in  the  line,  upon  which  Cap 
tain  Yeo  hauled  off.  It  was  evident  that  Sir  James, 
notwithstanding  his  superior  force,  was  unwilling  to 
risk  a  general  engagement  without  the  additional  ad 
vantage  of  the  weather  gage,  and  this  Captain  Chaun- 
cey  very  properly  refused  to  concede.  The  overcau- 
tiousness  of  Sir  James  in  this  affair  is  the  more  inex 
plicable  when  we  remember  the  great  anxiety  he  ex 
pressed  at  the  beginning  of  the  war  to  meet  an  enemy. 
Early  in  September,  1812,  this  officer,  then  in  command 
of  the  32-gun  frigate  Southampton,  sent  the  following 
challenge  to  Captain  David  Porter,  of  the  32-gun  frigate 
Essex :  "  Sir  James  Yeo  presents  his  compliments  to 
Captain  Porter,  of  the  American  frigate  Essex,  and 
would  be  glad  to  have  a  tete-a-tete ;  anywhere  between 
the  Capes  of  Delaware  and  Havana,  where  he  would 
have  the  pleasure  to  break  his  sword  over  his  damned 
head  and  put  him  down  forward  in  irons."  Sir  James 
did  not  have  the  " pleasure"  of  meeting  the  Essex, 
but  he  had  ample  opportunity  of  engaging  an  Ameri 
can  squadron  of  inferior  force  commanded  by  Captain 
Chauncey. 

Seeing  that  the  British  commander  would  not  en 
gage  that  day,  Captain  Chauncey  anchored  in  Niagara 


1813.  MANOEUVRES  OF  THE  TWO  SQUADRONS.  435 

River  for  the  night.  During  the  next  day  the  oppos 
ing  squadrons  manoeuvred  without  coming  to  action, 
both  commanders  being  unwilling  to  close  unless 
favored  with  the  weather  gage,  but  on  the  following 
night  the  Americans  worked  np  the  north  shore,  and 
by  daylight  of  the  10th  found  themselves  to  windward. 
A  general  chase  was  now  signaled,  and  with  every  pros 
pect  of  bringing  on  an  engagement  the  squadron  bore 
down  under  press  of  sail ;  but  at  noon,  when  they  were 
nearly  within  gunshot,  the  wind  shifted  around  in 
favor  of  the  enemy.  Captain  Chauncey  then  manoeu 
vred  to  secure  the  weather  gage  again,  but  his  vessels 
were  so  impeded  by  their  inequality  in  sailing  that  he 
was  unsuccessful.  At  6  p.  M.,  when  the  British  were 
about  four  miles  distant,  the  fickle  lake  wind  again 
changed,  placing  the  Americans  to  windward  ;  but  it 
was  10  P.  M.  before  the  squadrons  were  near  enough  to 
render  an  action  probable,  and  at  this  moment  the 
breeze  again  veered,  placing  the  Americans  to  leeward. 
By  11  p.  M.  the  heavier  vessels  opened  fire,  but  they 
were  out  of  range,  and  at  11.45  P.  M.  the  American 
schooners,  being  in  the  advance,  ran  to  leeward  so  as  to 
come  under  the  protection  of  the  ships.  The  Growler, 
Lieutenant  Deacon,  and  the  Julia,  Sailing-Master 
James  Trant,  however,  contrary  to  the  intention  of 
Captain  Chauncey,  hauled  close  to  the  wind  to 
weather  the  enemy,  and  the  excessive  zeal  of  their  com 
manders  put  the  British  squadron  between  them  and 
the  other  American  vessels.  Sir  James  immediately 
went  about  with  all  his  vessels  to  capture  the  Growler 
and  Julia,  while  the  General  Pike,  the  Madison  and 
the  Oneida,  with  the  schooner  straggling  in  the  rear, 
hauled  up  in  chase,  hoping  to  draw  the  enemy  from 
the  fugitive  schooners.  Sir  James,  after  exchanging  a 
few  shot  with  the  General  Pike,  continued  in  pursuit 
of  the  Growler  and  the  Julia,  and  after  a  long  chase 
captured  them.  The  General  Pike,  the  Madison  and 
the  Oneida  maintained  the  chase  for  some  time,  but 


486  OPERATIONS  ON  THE   GREAT  LAKES.  1813. 

finding  that  they  were  drawing  away  from  their  sup 
port,  stood  about  and  returned  to  port.  Contented 
with  this  success,  Captain  Yeo  sailed  for  Kingston, 
while  the  American  squadron  shortly  afterward  put 
back  to  Sackett's  Harbor. 

After  this  week  of  indecisive  skirmishing  the  two 
squadrons  did  not  sight  each  other  again  until  the  28th 
of  September,  when  they  met  oif  Toronto.  After  some 
manoeuvring,  the  General  PiJte,  the  Governor  Tomp- 
Jcins,  Lieutenant  W.  C.  B.  Finch,  and  the  Asp,  got 
within  range  and  opened  a  sharp  fire,  which  soon  car 
ried  away  the  General  Wolffs  main  and  mizzen  top 
mast  and  her  main  yard,  when  she  put  dead  before 
the  wind  to  escape.  After  an  ineffectual  pursuit  the 
Americans  hauled  oif  and  returned  to  port.  The  Gen 
eral  Pike's  loss  in  killed  or  wounded  was  twenty-seven, 
but  of  these  twenty-two  were  killed  or  wounded  by  the 
bursting  of  one  of  her  guns.  Pour  of  her  other  guns 
also  were  cracked.  Her  main  topgallant  mast  was  car 
ried  away  and  her  hull  was  wounded.  The  Madison 
was  slightly  injured,  while  the  Oneida  had  her  main 
topmast  shattered  and  the  Governor  TompMns  lost  her 
foremast.  Before  the  season  closed  the  British  squad 
ron  was  chased  several  times,  but  no  action  took  place. 
On  the  afternoon  of  October  5th  Captain  Chauncey, 
while  cruising  near  False  Ducks,  discovered  seven  sails 
to  windward,  which,  on  being  overtaken,  proved  to  be 
British  gunboats  with  troops  aboard.  Five  of  these 
were  captured,  one  was  burned  and  the  other,  the  En 
terprise,  escaped.  Two  of  the  prizes  were  the  Growler 
and  the  Julia,  lately  captured  by  Captain  Yeo.  Near 
ly  three  hundred  British  soldiers  were  secured,  and 
about  two  hundred  American  prisoners  were  released.1 
For  the  remainder  of  the  year  Captain  Yeo  was  block 
aded  in  Kingston.  On  the  10th  of  November  he  ven 
tured  out,  but  on  sighting  the  American  squadron  re- 

1  Captain  Chauncey's  official  report. 


1813-1814.  RE-ENFORCEMENTS.  487 

gained  the  shelter  of  the  batteries,  and  by  the  first  of 
December  navigation  on  the  lake  had  closed. 

Captain  Perry's  victory  on  Lake  Erie,  which  will  be 
narrated  in  the  next  chapter,  enabled  the  Americans  to 
re-enforce  their  squadron  on  the  upper  lake,  and  the 
winter  of  1813-'14  was  taken  up  with  building  war  ves 
sels,  so  that  by  the  summer  Captain  Chauncey's  force 
consisted  of  the  58-gun  frigate  Superior  (flagship), 
Lieutenant  John  H.  Elton  ;  the  42-gun  frigate  Mb- 
hawk,  Captain  Jones ;  the  28-gun  ship  General  Pike, 
Master-Commandant  William  Montgomery  Crane;  the 
24-gun  ship  Madison,  Master-Commandant  Edward 
Trenchard ;  the  22-gun  brig  Jefferson,  Master-Com 
mandant  Charles  Goodwin  Ridgeley ;  the  22-gun  brig 
Jones,  Master- Commandant  Melancthon  Taylor  Wool- 
sey  ;  the  16-gun  brig  SylpTi,  Master-Commandant  Elli 
ott  ;  the  16-gun  brig  Oneida,  Lieutenant  Thomas 
Brown  ;  making  a  total  of  eight  vessels,  mounting  two 
hundred  and  twenty-eight  guns.  Captain  Yeo's  squad 
ron  also  had  been  strengthened  until  it  comprised  the 
58-gun  frigate  Prince  Regent  (flagship),  Captain  O'Con- 
ner  ;  the  42-gun  frigate  Princess  Charlotte,  Captain 
Mulcaster  ;  the  24-gun  ship  Montreal  ( Wolfe),  Captain 
Downie ;  the  22-gun  ship  Niagara  (Royal  George), 
Captain  Popham  ;  the  16-gun  ship  CTiarwell  (Earl  of 
Moira),  Lieutenant  Dobbs  ;  the  16-gun  brig  Netley 
(Beresford),  Lieutenant  Owens  ;  the  16-gun  brig  Star 
(Melville),  Captain  Clover ;  the  14-gun  brig  Magnet 
(Sidney  Smith) ;  a  total  of  eight  vessels,  mounting  two 
hundred  and  eight  guns. 

Early  in  May,  before  Captain  Chauncey  could  get 
to  sea,  the  British  squadron,  commanded  by  Sir  James 
Yeo,  manned  by  fifteen  hundred  men  and  carrying 
one  thousand  soldiers,  appeared  before  Oswego.  This 
place  was  then  a  village  of  about  five  hundred  inhab 
itants,  defended  by  rude  earthworks,  garrisoned  with 
two  hundred  and  ninety  regulars  and  some  militia  un 
der  Lieutenant-Colonel  Mitchell.  The  entire  American 

34 


488  OPERATIONS  ON   THE  GREAT  LAKES.  1814. 

force  numbered  fewer  than  four  hundred  men,  while 
there  were  only  three  or  four  heavy  guns  that  could  be 
used.  The  enemy  landed  on  the  6th  of  May,  under 
Lieutenant-General  Drummond,  and  carried  the  place 
by  assault.  The  American  loss  was  six  killed,  thirty- 
eight  wounded  and  twenty -five  reported  missing ;  total, 
sixty-nine.  The  British  admit  a  loss  of  eighteen  killed 
and  sixty-four  wounded.  The  transport  Growler  was 
sunk,  to  prevent  her  falling  into  the  hands  of  the  ene 
my.  After  spiking  the  four  guns  of  the  batteries  and 
destroying  a  considerable  quantity  of  stores,  the  enemy 
raised  the  Growler  and  retired  to  Kingston  with  that 
vessel  as  a  prize. 

On  the  19th  of  May  Captain  Yeo  appeared  before 
Sackett's  Harbor  and  prevented  supplies,  guns,  rig 
ging  etc.,  for  the  American  vessels  from  getting  in,  and 
this  for  a  time  gave  the  British  undisturbed  posses 
sion  of  the  lake.  But  valuable  re- enforcements  were 
arriving  at  Sackett's  Harbor.  Between  the  llth  and 
21st  of  May  the  crew  of  the  Macedonian — which  frig 
ate  had  been  laid  up  in  the  Thames— arrived  under  the 
command  of  her  first  lieutenant,  Mr.  Rodgers.  On 
the  12th,  Master-Commandant  Jesse  D.  Elliott  rejoined 
the  station,  and  on  the  15th  Master-Commandant 
Trenchard  arrived.  The  crew  of  the  new  sloop  of  war 
Erie,  which  was  blockaded  at  Baltimore,  also  arrived 
under  Master- Commandant  Charles  G.  Ridgeley,  and 
was  ordered  to  the  Jefferson. 

Captain  Chauncey  was  greatly  delayed  in  getting 
to  sea  by  the  nonarrival  of  guns  and  rigging  for  his 
new  cruisers,  especially  for  the  Superior.  Many  of 
his  stores  were  at  Oswego  Falls,  about  twelve  miles 
above  Oswego,  but  as  the  roads  were  impassable  and 
the  enemy  controlled  the  lake,  the  task  of  forwarding 
these  supplies  to  Sackett's  Harbor  was  attended  with 
great  difficulty  and  danger.  As  the  Americans  could 
not  get  to  sea  without  them,  Master-Commandant  Me- 
lancthon  T.  Woolsey  volunteered  to  bring  them  to 


1814.  BATTLE  OP  SANDY  CREEK.  489 

Sackett's  Harbor.  On  the  evening  of  May  28th  this  offi 
cer  sailed  out  of  Oswego  Harbor  with  nineteen  boats 
laden  with  twenty-two  long  32-pounders,  ten  long  24- 
pounders,  three  short  42-pounders,  and  twelve  cables, 
escorted  by  Major  Appling  with  one  hundred  and 
thirty  riflemen.  By  rowing  hard  all  night  the  party 
reached  Big  Sandy  Creek  by  the  following  noon  with 
the  exception  of  one  boat,  which  was  lost  in  the  fog 
at  dawn  and  was  captured  by  the  enemy,  who  were 
maintaining  a  sharp  lookout.  From  the  men  in  this 
captured  boat  Sir  James  Yeo  learned  where  the  Ameri 
can  flotilla  was,  and  he  immediately  dispatched  three 
gunboats  with  three  cutters  and  a  gig  under  the  com 
mand  of  Captain  Popham  and  Captain  Spilsbury  in 
chase.  The  Americans,  being  warned  of  the  pursuit 
by  a  resident  named  James  Otis,  ran  about  three  miles 
up  Sandy  Creek,  where  they  landed  and  arranged  a 
skillful  ambuscade.  The  enemy  came  up  the  creek, 
confident  of  an  easy  capture,  but,  falling  into  the  snare 
set  for  them,  they  were  captured  with  all  their  boats. 
Their  loss  was  Midshipman  Hoare  and  fourteen  seamen 
and  marines  killed,  and  two  lieutenants  of  marines 
and  twenty-six  wounded,  which  with  the  prisoners 
made  a  total  loss  to  the  enemy  of  one  hundred  and 
eighty-six,  or  as  many  as  the  entire  American  force. 
The  American  loss  was  one  man  wounded.  The 
stores  were  then  landed  from  the  flotilla  and  carried 
overland  to  Sackett's  Harbor,  fifteen  miles  distant. 
The  great  cable  for  the  Superior  was  twenty-two 
inches  in  circumference  and  weighed  nine  thousand 
six  hundred  pounds.  As  there  was  no  vehicle  strong 
enough  to  carry  this  cable,  it  was  taken  on  the  shoul 
ders  of  two  hundred  men  and  carried  to  Sackett's 
Harbor. 

On  the  6th  of  June  the  blockade  was  raised,  but  it 
was  more  than  six  weeks  later  when  Captain  Chauncey 
got  to  sea,  and  in  the  mean  time  the  enemy  had  been 
hastening  the  completion  of  a  100-gun  ship. 


490  OPERATIONS  ON  THE  GREAT  LAKES.  1814. 

On  the  19th  of  June  Acting  Lieutenant  Francis  H. 
Gregory,  afterward  rear-admiral,  was  dispatched  to 
the  St.  Lawrence  with  two  gigs,  with  orders  to  cut  out, 
if  possible,  some  of  the  English  supply  boats.  He  was 
discovered  in  this  attempt  by  the  enemy,  who  sent  the 
gunboat  Black  Snake,  carrying  an  18-pound  carronade 
and  eighteen  men,  against  him.  But  instead  of  retreat 
ing,  Mr.  Gregory  made  a  dash  at  the  gunboat  and  cap 
tured  her.  Being  chased  by  a  larger  boat,  he  was  com 
pelled  to  sink  his  prize,  and  he  then  returned  to  port 
with  almost  as  many  prisoners  as  seamen.  He  was 
ably  assisted  in  this  spirited  affair  by  Sailing-Master 
William  Vaughan  and  Mr.  Dixon,  who  were  familiar 
with  lake  navigation.  Before  the  close  of  the  month 
Mr.  Gregory,  again  accompanied  by  Yaughan  and  Dix 
on,  with  two  gigs,  landed  at  Erie  and  destroyed  a  cruiser 
designed  to  carry  fourteen  guns,  which  the  enemy  was 
building  there.  For  these  handsome  affairs  Mr.  Greg 
ory  received  a  commission  as  lieutenant. 

On  the  31st  of  July  the  American  squadron,  in 
creased  by  the  62-gun  frigate  Superior  and  the  42-gun 
ship  Mohawk,  took  to  the  lake,  and  after  capturing 
the  Magnet  blockaded  Captain  Yeo  in  Kingston  forty- 
five  days.  On  the  night  of  August  12th  the  schooners 
Ohio  and  Somers  in  Lake  Erie  were  captured  by  a  party 
of  seventy-five  British  seamen,  in  nine  boats  under  the 
command  of  Captain  Dobbs.  The  Porcupine  also  was 
attacked,  but  she  beat  off  her  assailants.  In  this  affair 
the  Americans  lost  one  killed,  and  seven  men,  includ 
ing  three  officers,  wounded.  On  the  25th  of  August, 
while  reconnoitering  Kingston  harbor  in  a  gig,  Mr. 
Gregory  was  chased  by  two  of  the  enemy's  barges  and 
captured.  Midshipman  Hart  was  killed  and  five  of  the 
men  wounded.  Although  on  several  occasions  it  was 
expected  that  the  British  squadron  would  advance  to 
give  battle,  nothing  of  importance  occurred.  An  at 
tempt  made  on  the  19th  of  November,  by  Midshipman 
M'Gowan  and  William  Johnson,  to  blow  up  the  new 


1814  ON  LAKE  HURON.  491 

112-gun  ship  St.  Lawrence  was  unsuccessful,  and  by 
the  end  of  November  ice  had  closed  navigation. 

In  the  summer  of  1814  the  American  naval  force 
stationed  on  Lake  Huron,  under  the  command  of  Cap 
tain  Arthur  Sinclair,  captured  the  British  schooners 
Mink  and  Nancy,  laden  with  flour  and  stores.  The 
Perseverance  was  captured  by  the  same  force  soon  aft 
erward  on  Lake  Superior,  but  was  lost  while  passing 
down  the  Falls  of  St.  Mary.  Having  destroyed  the 
enemy's  shipping  on  the  upper  lakes,  Captain  Sinclair 
returned  to  Lake  Erie  in  August,  leaving  the  schooners 
Scorpion,  Lieutenant  Champlin,  and  Tigress,  Lieuten 
ant  Turner,  on  guard.  On  the  night  of  September  3d 
the  Tigress  was  attacked  by  British  barges  under  the 
command  of  Lieutenant  Bugler  and  carried  by  sur 
prise.  Two  days  later  the  Scorpion,  not  having  heard 
of  the  Tigress'  fate,  and  seeing  the  American  colors  on 
her,  ran  alongside  and  was  captured.  In  his  official 
report  Lieutenant  Bugler  said:  "  The  defense  of  the 
Tigress  did  credit  to  her  officers,  who  were  all  severe 
ly  wounded."  Lieutenant  Champlin's  thigh  bone  was 
shattered  by  a  canister  shot. 


CHAPTER  IX. 

THE  BATTLE  OF  LAKE  EEIE. 

AT  the  beginning  of  the  War  of  1812  Master- Com 
mandant  Oliver  Hazard  Perry,  then  in  his  twenty -sixth 
year,  and  recently  promoted  from  the  rank  of  lieuten 
ant,  was  in  charge  of  the  gunboats  at  Newport.  He 
had  seen  active  service  in  the  wars  with  France  and 
Tripoli,  and  at  the  outbreak  of  hostilities  with  England 
he  requested  the  Navy  Department  to  send  him  "where 
he  could  meet  the  enemies  of  his  country."  On  the  17th 
of  February,  1813,  he  received  orders  to  select  such  offi 
cers  and  men  from  his  gunboat  flotilla  as  were  adapted 
for  service  on  the  Great  Lakes  and  to  report  to  Captain 
Isaac  Chauncey  at  Sackett's  Harbor.  On  the  day  he 
received  this  order  Master-Commandant  Perry  dis 
patched  Sailing-Master  Thomas  C.  Almy  with  fifty  men 
for  Lake  Ontario,  and  two  days  later  fifty  more  under 
Sailing-Master  Stephen  Champlin,  while  on  the  21st  a 
third  detachment  of  fifty  men  under  Sailing-Master 
William  Vigneron  Taylor  set  out  from  Providence  on 
a  "land  cruise"  over  mountains  and  hills  and  through 
trackless  forests. 

On  the  22d  of  February  Master- Commandant  Perry 
left  his  pleasant  home  in  Washington  Square,  New 
port,  and,  taking  an  affectionate  leave  of  his  young 
wife,  started  with  his  thirteen-year-old  brother  James 
Alexander  in  a  heavy  rainstorm  for  the  frozen  north — 
in  quest  of  glory.  After  stopping  a  day  at  Lebanon, 
Conn.,  to  visit  his  parents,  he  hastened  northward,  and 
on  the  28th  of  February  met  Captain  Chauncey  at  Al 
bany.  In  the  severest  part  of  the  winter  of  1812-' 13 

(492) 


1813.  PERRY  SETS  OUT  FOR  THE  LAKES.  493 

these  two  officers  turned  their  backs  on  the  borders  of 
civilization  and  plunged  into  the  wilderness.  Making 
their  way  along  the  waters  of  Mohawk  River,  now 
traveling  in  rude  sleighs  over  corduroy  roads,  now  in 
canoes  gliding  swiftly  along  turbulent  streams,  and  at 
other  times  breaking  through  the  dense  underbrush  on 
foot,  they  hastened  westward.  Nothing  relieved  the 
loneliness  of  their  journey  save  the  distant  howl  of 
wild  beasts  or  the  occasional  whir  of  birds,  startled  by 
the  unwonted  sight  of  man.  The  only  indications  of 
human  life  were  fleeting  glimpses  of  savages  as  they 
hovered  around  the  trail  with  plunder  and  murder  de 
picted  on  their  scowling  visages,  or  some  settler  who 
met  them  with  keen,  suspicious  glances,  as  if  fearful 
of  hidden  danger  or  treachery.  From  Lake  Oneida 
the  young  adventurers  followed  the  trail  down  Oswego 
Elver  to  its  mouth,  and  then  skirted  along  the  bleak 
shores  of  Lake  Ontario  in  a  boat  toward  Sackett's 
Harbor. 

If  there  was  little  sign  of  life  in  their  journey  from 
Albany  to  the  lake,  there  was  even  less  on  that  dreary 
waste  of  waters.  The  dull,  leaden  sky  of  a  wintry  day 
hung  over  them  like  a  pall.  To  seaward  nothing  met 
their  gaze  but  an  unbroken  stretch  of  short,  choppy  seas, 
whipped  into  petulant  whitecaps  by  the  piercing  north 
west  wind  ;  on  the  other  side  sullen  forests  came  down 
to  the  water's  edge,  their  somber  hue  intensified  by  the 
yellow  and  dull  white  line  formed  by  the  clay  banks 
and  sandy  shore.  Now  and  then  a  bird  rising  out  of 
the  woodlands  and  winging  its  flight  over  the  lake, 
where  it  circled  in  monotonous  gradations,  enhanced  the 
loneliness  of  the  situation.  To  afford  a  relief  for  the 
depressing  sensation,  a  musket  was  fired  occasionally  or 
a  shout  raised,  only  to  be  mockingly  returned  from  the 
gloomy  forests  while  the  echoing  reverberations  rolled 
along  the  shores,  growing  more  and  more  indistinct, 
until  lost  in  the  distance— again  leaving  the  travelers 
overwhelmed  by  the  silence  of  a  primeval  solitude.  To 


494  THE  BATTLE  OF  LAKE  ERIE.  1813. 

add  to  their  discomforts,  a  cold  rain  began  to  fall,  so 
that  by  the  time  they  arrived  at  Sackett's  Harbor,  on 
the  evening  of  a  dismal  day  early  in  March,  they  were 
soaked  to  the  skin.  The  reception  they  met  by  the 
people  of  this  place  was  even  more  chilly,  if  possible, 
than  the  weather  they  had  experienced.  The  principal 
business  of  the  townsfolk  was  smuggling,  and  the  ar 
rival  of  United  States  officials  was  looked  upon  with 
suspicion  and  displeasure. 

And  this  was  the  u  scene  of  glory  "  for  which  young 
Perry  had  left  his  home  in  far-off  Newport !  It  is  easy 
to  dream  of  fame  while  snugly  ensconced  in  a  stanch 
frigate,  bowling  along  the  ocean  under  easy  canvas, 
with  a  loyal  crew,  a  complete  armament,  a  dry  maga 
zine  and  a  well- stored  hold,  but  the  scrawny  pines  and 
the  stubborn  oaks  that  grew  on  the  shore  of  Lake  On 
tario  were  far  from  being  the  "stanch  frigate"  of  the 
middy's  dream,  while  the  little  company  of  half-frozen, 
plague- stricken  men  who  huddled  around  the  fires  in 
the  wretched  hamlet  of  Sackett's  Harbor  was  not  the 
kind  of  a  crew  on  which  a  naval  commander  would  or 
dinarily  care  to  risk  his  life  and  professional  honor. 

By  the  capture  of  the  vast  tract  of  land  then  known 
as  the  Territory  of  Michigan,  but  now  comprising  a 
number  of  States,  the  English  obtained  undisputed 
control  of  Lake  Erie,  and  were  in  a  position  to  carry  out 
their  plans  of  extending  the  Dominion  of  Canada  along 
the  Ohio  and  Mississippi  Rivers  down  to  the  Gulf,  so  as 
to  cut  off  the  United  States  from  the  West.  To  young 
Perry  was  assigned  the  herculean  task  of  regaining 
control  of  Lake  Erie,  which  was  the  first  step  necessary 
to  the  recovery  of  the  lost  ground.  At  the  time  of  his 
arrival  at  Sackett's  Harbor  it  was  expected  that  the 
English  would  make  an  attack  on  that  place,  so  Perry 
remained  there  two  weeks  to  assist  in  its  defense.  The 
attack  was  postponed,  however,  and  on  the  16th  of 
March  he  set  out  for  Lake  Erie.  On  the  24th  he  arrived 
at  Buffalo,  and  from  that  place  he  made  his  way  in  a 


1813. 


BUILDING  A  SQUADRON. 


495 


sleigh  over  the  ice  to  Erie,  then  known  as  Presque  Isle, 
an  insignificant  hamlet  of  a  few  log  houses  and  a  tav 
ern,  at  one  time  a  trading-post  established  by  the 
French  in  1749  as  one  of  their  chain  of  forts  which  was 
to  unite  the  Canadas  with  Louisiana.  Perry  arrived  at 
this  place  on  the  27th  of  March  and  established  his 
headquarters  at  Duncan's  Erie  Hotel.  Sailing-Master 
Daniel  Dobbins,  who  had  been  in  charge  of  the  Ameri- 


Buffalo 


Erie 


Sandusky 


Lake,  Erie. 

can  naval  affairs  on  this  lake,  had,  with  the  assistance 
of  Noah  Brown,  a  shipwright  from  New  York,  already 
laid  down  several  vessels  which  were  now  nearly  com 
pleted.  Two  brigs,  the  Niagara  and  the  Lawrence, 
which  were  being  constructed  at  the  mouth  of  Cascade 
Creek,  had  been  built  with  white  and  black  oak  and 
chestnut  frames,  the  outside  planking  being  of  oak, 
while  the  decks  were  of  pine.  Many  trees  found  their 
places  in  these  vessels  on  the  same  day  they  were  felled 
in  the  forest.  The  brigs  were  one  hundred  and  ten  feet 
over  all,  and  had  twenty-nine  feet  beam.  The  Lawrence 
was  so  named  by  order  of  the  Secretary  of  the  Navy, 
who,  on  receiving  the  news  of  the  capture  of  the  Chesa 
peake  by  the  Shannon,  June  1,  1813,  ordered  that  one 
of  the  brigs  be  named  after  the  ChesapeaTce's  com- 


496  THE  BATTLE  OF  LAKE  ERIE.  1813. 

mander.  Two  gunboats,  nearly  planked  up,  were  at 
the  mouth  of  Lee's  Run  between  the  present  Beech  and 
Sassafras  Streets  of  Erie,  while  work  on  a  schooner 
called  the  Scorpion  was  just  begun. 

On  his  way  from  Buffalo  to  Erie  Perry  stopped  at  a 
lonely  cabin  on  the  shores  of  Lake  Erie,  and  from  its 
keeper,  who  had  lately  returned  from  the  Canadian 
side,  learned  that  the  enemy  was  fully  informed  of  the 
progress  made  on  the  American  vessels,  and  was  pre 
paring  to  attack  Erie.  To  meet  this  danger  the  ship 
wrights,  when  not  engaged  at  their  vocation,  were 
drilled  under  the  command  of  Sailing-Master  Dobbins 
and  were  formed  into  a  guard,  while  an  additional 
company  of  sixty  volunteers  was  raised  by  a  Mr.  Fos 
ter.  By  the  time  the  brigs  were  ready  for  launching 
the  Americans  found  that  they  were  destitute  of  rig 
ging,  sails,  armaments  and  general  equipments,  and 
with  a  view  of  hastening  their  arrival  Master-Com 
mandant  Perry  went  to  Pittsburg.  Returning  from 
this  tedious  journey,  he  hastened  to  Buffalo  with  Sail 
ing-Master  Dobbins  for  men  and  ammunition.  By  the 
capture  of  Fort  George,  as  narrated  in  the  last  chapter, 
the  English  were  compelled  to  abandon  Fort  Erie, 
which  left  Niagara  River  open.  This  enabled  the 
Americans  to  re- enforce  their  squadron  at  Erie  with 
the  following  vessels :  the  brig  Caledonia,  the  schoon 
ers  Somers,  Tigress  and  Ohio,  and  the  sloop  Trippe, 
which  had  been  detained  below  Buffalo  by  the  Cana 
dian  batteries.  By  the  united  efforts  of  two  hundred 
soldiers  and  many  yoke  of  oxen  these  vessels  were 
warped  up  the  swift  current,  the  task  requiring  six 
days.  As  they  rode  out  on  the  lake  a  resident  of  the 
Canadian  shore  put  off  in  a  boat  and  informed  Perry 
that  the  English  had  dispatched  a  powerful  squadron 
under  Captain  Finnis  to  intercept  him.  All  haste  was 
made  to  get  the  vessels  into  Erie,  but  they  were  so 
delayed  by  head  winds  that  at  one  time  they  made  only 
twenty-five  miles  in  twenty-four  hours.  To  make  their 


1813.  THE  AMERICANS  BLOCKADED.  497 

position  more  critical,  Perry  was  seized  with  the  lake 
fever,  but  he  still  insisted  on  retaining  command.  Af 
ter  being  buffeted  about  for  several  days  by  boisterous 
winds,  in  momentary  expectation  of  capture,  they  final 
ly  gained  the  harbor  of  Erie  only  a  few  hours  before 
the  British  squadron  hove  in  sight  and  blockaded  the 
port. 

By  the  10th  of  July  the  American  vessels  were  ready 
for  sea,  but  there  were  only  officers  and  sailors  enough  to 
man  one  ship,  and  many  of  these  men  were  on  the  sick 
list.  In  the  meantime  the  British  squadron  maintained 
a  rigorous  blockade,  and  Perry  was  compelled  to  see  the 
English  colors  flaunted  before  his  eyes  every  day,  while 
he  was  powerless  to  act.  He  wrote  repeatedly  to  Gen 
eral  Harrison,  to  Captain  Chauncey  and  to  the  Secre 
tary  of  the  Navy.  "  Give  me  men,  sir,  and  I  will 
acquire  both  for  you  and  myself  honor  and  glory  on 
this  lake  or  perish  in  the  attempt,"  was  his  plea.  On 
the  23d  of  July  he  wrote  to  Captain  Chauncey :  "For 
God's  sake  and  your  own  and  mine,  send  me  men  and 
officers,  and  I  will  have  the  enemy  in  a  day  or  two." 
But  his  prayer  was  almost  in  vain,  for  only  a  few  men 
could  be  sent  to  him,  and  they  were  of  an  inferior 
class — "a  motley  set,  blacks,  soldiers  and  boys." 
Rumors  that  the  enemy  had  planned  a  land  and  water 
expedition  against  Erie  with  a  view  of  destroying  the 
American  squadron  before  it  could  get  to  sea  again 
reached  Erie,  and  many  of  the  people  became  panic- 
struck  and  fled  to  the  interior.  With  what  men  he 
had  Master-Commandant  Perry  made  the  best  possible 
disposition  for  defense  by  throwing  up  breastworks 
and  batteries,  but  fortunately  the  English  were  delayed 
in  massing  their  troops  at  Long  Point,  and  did  not 
carry  out  their  plans. 

By  the  close  of  July  Perry  had  three  hundred  men 
with  whom  to  man  his  ten  vessels,  and  even  with  this 
inferior  force  he  determined  to  get  to  sea  at  the  first 
opportunity.  But  now  a  new  difficulty  confronted 


498  THE  BATTLE  OF   LAKE  ERIE.  1813. 

him.  The  water  in  the  lake  had  gradually  been  fall 
ing,  until  now  it  was  impossible  to  get  the  brigs  over 
the  bar  without  landing  their  guns  and  blocking  the 
vessels  up  on  scows.  To  attempt  this  in  the  face  of 
a  powerful  blockading  squadron  was  worse  than  folly, 
and  again  Perry  was  compelled  to  remain  an  inactive 
spectator.  Commander  Robert  Heriot  Barclay,  who 
had  succeeded  Captain  Finnis  in  the  command  of  the 
British  squadron,  was  fully  aware  of  his  advantage, 
and  remained  off  the  harbor,  determined  to  prevent 
the  Americans  from  getting  to  sea ;  and  as  a  further 
precaution,  he  sent  spies  into  Erie  to  inform  him  of 
any  attempt  that  might  be  made  to  get  the  vessels 
over  the  bar  under  cover  of  night.  As  the  Americans 
did  not  seem  to  be  ready  for  sea,  Commander  Barclay, 
on  the  2d  of  August,  made  sail  for  the  Canadian  side 
of  the  lake,  in  order,  it  is  said,  to  accept  an  invitation 
to  dinner  from  the  inhabitants  of  Port  Dover.  Master- 
Commandant  Perry  seized  the  opportunity,  and  on 
August  4th,  without  any  appearance  of  preparation,  he 
dropped  down  to  the  bar  with  his  ships.  The  guns  of 
the  Lawrence  and  the  Niagara  were  quickly  landed 
on  the  beach,  two  large  scows  were  brought  alongside 
and  sunk  nearly  to  the  level  of  the  water,  so  that  the 
ends  of  massive  pieces  of  timber,  which  had  been  run 
through  the  after  and  forward  ports,  passed  over  them. 
Plugs  were  then  put  in  and  the  water  pumped  out  of 
the  scows,  and,  gradually  rising,  they  lifted  the  brigs 
higher  out  of  the  water  until  they  drew  two  feet  less 
than  before.  But  even  this  was  not  sufficient  to  enable 
them  to  pass  over  the  bar,  and  it  became  necessary  to 
block  up  the  timbers  and  again  sink  the  scows  and 
pump  them  out.  This  was  done,  and  before  dawn  the 
Lawrence  and  the  Niagara  were  safely  over  the  bar, 
when  their  guns  were  replaced  and  hurried  prepara 
tions  were  made  to  defend  them.  The  task  had  been 
accomplished  none  too  soon,  for  at  eight  o'clock  the 
following  morning  the  British  squadron  reappeared, 


1813.  PERRY  APPEARS  ON  THE   LAKE.  499 

and  after  half  an  hour  of  reconnoitering  and  some 
harmless  cannonading  •  it  made  sail  for  the  upper  end 
of  the  lake. 

After  equipping  their  vessels  the  Americans  cruised 
several  days  between  Erie  and  the  Canadian  shore  in 
search  of  the  enemy,  but  Commander  Barclay  had  put 
into  Maiden  to  await  the  completion  of  the  19-gun  ship 
Detroit.  On  the  9th  of  August  Master-Commandant 
Jesse  D.  Elliott  arrived  at  Erie  with  one  hundred  men 
and  was  assigned  to  the  Niagara,  and  three  days  later 
the  American  squadron  put  to  sea  in  a  double  line  of 
battle.  On  the  13th  of  August,  off  Sandusky,  a  sus 
picious  sail  was  descried,  and  the  Scorpion  was  sent  in 
chase.  The  stranger  proved  to  be  a  British  spy  boat, 
and  the  whole  squadron  made  sail  after  it,  but  during 
the  night  a  storm  came  on,  so  that  by  darting  among 
the  islands  of  Put-in-Bay,  the  boat  escaped.  As  the 
wind  increased  in  violence  the  squadron  came  to  an 
chor,  and  during  the  heavy  rain  storm  on  the  evening 
of  August  19th  General  William  Henry  Harrison  and 
staff,  with  a  number  of  Indian  chiefs,  arrived  for  the 
purpose  of  arranging  some  concerted  plan  of  action 
between  the  water  and  land  forces.  It  was  decided  to 
move  upon  the  enemy  as  soon  as  the  army  was  ready. 
In  the  meantime  the  squadron  sailed  for  Maiden  on  a 
reconnoitering  expedition,  while  the  Ohio,  Sailing-Mas 
ter  Daniel  Dobbins,  was  sent  to  Erie  to  forward  sup 
plies.  After  looking  into  Maiden,  Perry  returned  to 
Put-in-Bay  on  the  27th,  with  many  of  his  men  pros 
trated  by  lake  fever,  and  Perry  himself  with  the  three 
medical  officers  of  the  squadron  was  suffering  from  the 
malady. 

As  a  large  proportion  of  the  crews  of  the  American 
vessels  was  made  up  of  soldiers,  those  who  were  able 
to  get  about  were  exercised  every  day  in  seamanship, 
as  it  was  intended  to  make  a  boat  attack  on  the  Brit 
ish  vessels  in  Maiden  if  they  failed  to  come  out  and 
give  battle  on  the  lake.  On  the  1st  of  September  the 


500  THE  BATTLE  OF  LAKE  ERIE.  1813. 

Americans  again  sailed  for  Maiden.  The  appearance 
of  Perry's  squadron  spread  great  alarm  on  shore,  and 
the  Indians  requested  that  it  be  attacked  at  once,  but 
as  Commander  Barclay  had  not  completed  his  arrange 
ments  he  did  not  feel  justified  in  giving  battle.  After 
remaining  off  Maiden  several  days,  Perry,  on  the  6th  of 
September,  returned  to  Put-in-Bay.  On  the  night  of 
the  9th  he  held  a  council  of  his  officers,  at  which  it  was 
decided  to  make  a  boat  attack  on  the  British  squadron 
at  its  anchorage  in  Maiden,  and  preparations  were 
made  to  carry  out  the  plan.  But  before  this  could  be 
done,  Commander  Barclay  was  compelled  to  put  to  sea 
in  order  to  open  communications  with  Long  Point,  the 
English  base  of  supplies ;  and  at  sunrise  on  Saturday 
morning,  September  10th,  the  English  ships  were  de 
scried  from  the  Lawrences  masthead,  and  the  Ameri 
cans  hastened  to  meet  them. 

At  this  time  Master-Commandant  Perry's  squadron 
consisted  of  the  brig  Lawrence  (flagship),  Lieutenant 
John  J.  Yarnall,  mounting  two  long  12-pounders  and 
eighteen  short  32-pounders  ;  the  brig  Niagara,  Master- 
Commandant  Jesse  D.  Elliott,  two  long  12-pounders 
and  eighteen  short  32-pounders ;  the  brig  Caledonia, 
Lieutenant  Daniel  Turner,  two  long  24-pounders  and 
one  short  32-pounder  ;  the  schooner  Ariel,  Lieutenant 
John  H.  Packet t,  four  long  12-pounders  ;  the  schooner 
Tigress,  Lieutenant  Augustus  H.  M.  Conckling,  one 
long  32-pounder ;  the  sloop  Trippe,  Lieutenant  Thomas 
Holdup,  one  long  32-pounder ;  the  schooner  Porcupine, 
Midshipman  George  Senate,  one  long  32-pounder  ;  the 
schooner  Scorpion,  Sailing-Master  Stephen  Champlin, 
one  long  32-pounder  and  one  short  24- pounder ;  the 
schooner  Somers,  Sailing-Master  Thomas  C.  Almy,  one 
long  24-pounder  and  one  short  32-pounder  ; 1  in  all,  nine 
vessels,  mounting  fifty-four  guns,  with  fifteen  hundred 
and  thirty- six  pounds  of  metal ;  and  deducting  seven 

1  Official  report  of  Master-Commandant  Perry. 


1813.  THE  OPPOSING  SQUADRONS.  5Q1 

per  cent  for  deficient  weight  in  American  metal,  we 
have  fourteen  hundred  and  twenty-eight  pounds. 
These  vessels  were  manned  by  four  hundred  and 
ninety  men,  only  one  hundred  and  twenty-five  of 
whom  were  from  the  regular  navy,  a  fourth  of  them 
were  raw  recruits,  and  a  fourth  were  negroes,  while 
one  hundred  and  sixteen  during  the  action  were  unfit 
for  duty,  as  they  were  suffering  from  cholera  morbus 
and  lake  fever.  Of  the  one  hundred  and  thirty-seven 
men  and  boys  in  the  Lawrence  only  one  hundred  and 
three  were  fit  for  duty  on  this  occasion. 

The  British  squadron  consisted  of  the  ship  Detroit 
(flagship),  mounting  two  long  24-pounders,  one  long 
18-pounder,  six  long  12-pounders,  eight  long  9-pound- 
ers,  one  short  24-pounder  and  one  short  18-pounder ; 
the  ship  Queen  Charlotte,  Captain  Finnis,  one  long 
12-pounder,  two  long  9-pounders  and  fourteen  short 
24-pounders ;  the  brig  Lady  Prevost,  Lieutenant 
Edward  Wise  Buchan,  one  long  9-pounder,  two  long 
6-pounders  and  ten  short  12-pounders ;  the  brig 
Hunter,  Lieutenant  Bignell,  four  long  6-pounders,  two 
long  4-pounders,  two  long  2-pounders  and  two  short 
12-pounders  ;  the  sloop  Little  Belt,  one  long  12- 
pounder  and  two  long  6-pounders  ;  the  schooner  Chip- 
pewa,  Mr.  Campbell,  one  long  9-pounder ;  in  all,  six 
vessels,  mounting  sixty-three  guns,  with  a  total  weight 
of  eight  hundred  and  fifty- two  pounds.  These  ves 
sels  were  manned  by  at  least  five  hundred  and  two 
men  and  boys.1  James  has  neglected  to  give  satis 
factory  evidence  of  the  number  of  men  in  the  English 
squadron,  and  as  the  British  official  reports  are  silent 
on  this  important  detail  we  must  rely  on  American 
official  documents.  One  hundred  and  fifty  of  these 
men  were  from  the  royal  navy,  eighty  were  Canadian 
sailors,  and  two  hundred  and  forty  of  them  were 
soldiers,  mostly  regulars.  Commander  Robert  Heriot 

1  Emmons'  Statistical  History  of  the  United  States  Navy,  p.  56. 


502  THE   BATTLE  OF   LAKE  ERIE.  1813. 

Barclay,  the  commander  of  the  British  squadron,  was 
"a  man  of  no  ordinary  fame."1  At  this  time  he  was 
in  his  thirty-seventh  year,  and  had  fought  under  Nel 
son  at  Trafalgar,  where  he  was  dangerously  wounded, 
and  in  another  engagement  he  lost  an  arm.  Lieuten 
ant  Buchan,  of  the  Lady  Prevost,  also  had  distin 
guished  himself  under  Nelson. 

Comparative  force. 

Guns.  Lbs.  Crews. 

American  :  54  1,428  490 

British  :  63  852  502 

At  ten  o'clock  in  the  morning  the  American  vessels 
got  under  way  and  stood  out  to  sea,  while  hundreds 
of  soldiers  and  civilians  with  anxious  faces  lined  the 
shores  to  watch  the  battle.  Calling  his  men  aft,  Mas 
ter-Commandant  Perry,  jumped  on  a  gun  slide  and  gave 
them  a  short  address,  at  the  close  of  which  he  dis 
played  a  large  blue  flag — made  by  Samuel  Hambleton 
and  bearing  in  white  muslin  letters  about  a  foot  high 
the  immortal  words  of  the  dying  Lawrence,  "  Don't 
give  up  the  ship  !  " — saying,  "My  brave  lads,  this  flag 
bears  the  last  words  of  Captain  Lawrence.  Shall  I  hoist 
it  ? "  With  one  voice  the  men  shouted,  "  Ay,  ay,  sir  !  " 
and  as  the  bunting  was  run  up  to  the  main  royal  mast 
head,  and,  fluttering  out,  hovered  over  the  ship  like 
the  guardian  spirit  of  that  departed  hero,  cheer  upon 
cheer  burst  from  the  American  squadron,  while  the 
army  took  up  the  echo  with  a  mighty  shout.  The  men 
were  then  sent  to  quarters,  and  a  profound  hush  settled 
over  the  scene  as  every  one  waited  the  issue  with  breath 
less  anxiety.  Perry  now  descended  into  the  quiet  of 
his  cabin  to  make  his  personal  arrangements  for  "  what 
might  happen."  Gathering  his  public  papers  and  sig 
nal-book  together,  he  tied  them  in  a  neat  package, 
shotted  it  and  laid  it  carefully  on  the  cabin  table  in 

1  Hughes'  History  of  England,  vol.  xiv,  p.  18. 


1813.  FINAL  PREPARATIONS  FOR  BATTLE.  5Q3 

plain  view,  ready  to  be  thrown  overboard  should  the 
ship  be  captured.  Then  looking  over  his  wife's  letters 
he  tore  them  up,  and  after  giving  a  searching  glance 
around  the  cabin  to  see  that  everything  was  prepared 
for  the  worst,  he  returned  to  the  deck  prepared  to  fight 
for  the  best. 

The  light  breeze  that  wafted  the  squadron  toward 
the  enemy  was  scarcely  sufficient  to  ruffle  the  smooth 
tranquillity  of  the  lake.  The  English  vessels,  newly 
painted,  gayly  bedecked  with  flags  and  under  easy  sail, 
throwing  their  shadows  ahead  glancing  along  the  sunlit 
waves,  presented  a  beautiful  sight  as  they  came  down 
in  line  of  battle  under  the  cloudless  sky.  The  Detroit 
was  especially  noticeable  for  the  tautness  of  her  rigging, 
the  dazzling  whiteness  of  her  canvas  and  the  handsome 
style  in  which  she  was  handled.  About  half -past  ten 
o'clock  a  bugle  was  heard  from  their  flagship,  which  was 
followed  by  a  succession  of  cheers  from  the  different 
vessels,  and  at  the  same  time  the  strains,  of  Rule  Bri 
tannia  from  a  band  in  the  Detroit  were  carried  by  the 
faint  breeze  to  the  ears  of  the  Americans.  In  the  Law 
rence  nothing  served  to  break  the  silence  except  a  few 
short  orders  which,  followed  by  the  shrill  piping  of  the 
boatswain's  whistle,  broke  over  the  waters  with  start 
ling  clearness ;  then  another  silence,  the  more  oppress 
ive  by  the  contrast,  would  follow.  The  men,  divested 
of  all  unnecessary  clothing,  revealing  brawny  arms  and 
weather-beaten  chests,  stood  by  the  guns,  their  set 
faces  and  quiet  demeanor  plainly  showing  the  serious 
ness  of  the  conflict. 

The  bearing  of  Perry  at  this  moment  is  said  to  have 
inspired  confidence  in  all  who  saw  him.  The  youthful 
commander,  closely  watching  the  approaching  enemy, 
gave  the  few  necessary  orders  in  a  calm,  firm  voice 
which  filled  all  around  him  with  an  intense  earnestness 
and  a  determination  to  conquer  or  die.  He  was  fully 
conscious  of  the  responsibility  resting  upon  him.  The 
possession  of  the  Great  West  was  at  stake.  Whether 

35 


504 


THE  BATTLE  OF  LAKE  ERIE. 


1813. 


it  was  to  pass  into  the  hands  of  Great  Britain  or  of  the 
United  States  would  be  largely  determined  by  this  bat 
tle.  Whether  the  young  master-commandant  was  to 
go  into  history  a  hero  or  covered  with  the  ignominy 
of  defeat  was  to  be  decided  that  day.  It  was  indeed 
"a  time  to  try  men's  souls."  About  this  time  Perry 
ordered  grog  and  rations  to  be  served,  for  it  was  more 
than  likely  that  at  the  regular  time  for  the  midday 
mess  the  squadrons  would  be  engaged.  After  a  hasty 
meal  the  men  again  returned  to  their  quarters.  The 
youthful  American  commander  now  passed  along  the 
deck  and  examined  each  gun  to  make  sure  that  all  was 
in  readiness,  and  as  he  approached  the  several  gun 
crews  he  had  a  word  of  encouragement  for  each.  Ob 
serving  some  of  the  men  from  the  Constitution,  he 
said,  UI  need  not  say  anything  to  you.  You  know 
how  to  beat  those  fellows."  Approaching  another  gun 
manned  by  men  who  had  served  under  him  in  Rhode 

Island,  he  remarked: 


ff. 


"Ah!  Here  are  the 
Newport  boys !  They 
will  do  their  duty  I 
warrant." 

After  some  ma 
noeuvring  in  the  vari 
able  wind  to  gain  the 
weather  gage,  Perry 
said  to  Sailing  -  Mas 
ter  William  Vigneron 
Taylor,  "Run  to  the 
lee  side  of  the  is 
lands."  The  sailing- 
master  ventured  to  re 
ply,  "Then  you  will 
have  to  engage  the  enemy  to  leeward,  sir."  "I  don't 
care,"  answered  Perry  ;  "  to  windward  or  leeward,  they 
shall  fight  to-day,"  and  the  American  vessels  passed 
under  the  lee  of  the  islands,  but  a  favorable  shift  in 


Diagram  of  the  battle,  No.  L 


1813.  THE  BATTLE  OPENS.  505 

the  wind  soon  afterward  placed  them  to  windward.  It 
was  Perry's  intention  to  have  the  Niagara  lead  the 
American  line  of  battle,  as  he  supposed  that  the  Queen 
Charlotte  would  lead  the  English  vessels ;  but  learn 
ing  from  Captain  Brevoort,  of  the  army,  who  was  serv 
ing  in  the  Niagara  as  a  marine  officer,  and  who  had 
recently  returned  from  Canada,  the  names  of  the  Brit 
ish  vessels,  and  linding  that  the  Detroit  was  at  the 
head  of  the  British  line,  Perry  decided  to  run  the  Law 
rence  ahead  of  the  Niagara,  so  that  the  two  flagships 
might  come  fairly  alongside.  At  the  same  time  he 
designated  which  of  the  English  ships  the  other  vessels 
of  his  squadron  were  to  engage. 

At  11.45  A.  M.,  while  the  squadrons  were  yet  a  mile 
apart,  the  Detroit  discharged  a  long  24-pounder  at  the 
Lawrence  by  way  of  testing  the  distance.  The  shot 
ricochetted  along  the  water  and  passed  beyond  the 
American  flagship,  upon  which  Perry  seized  a  trumpet 
and  sent  the  word  along  his  line  for  the  vessels  to  close 
up  and  take  their  prescribed  positions,  which  were,  ' '  to 
keep  within  half  a  cable's  length  of  each  other,  and  en 
joining  it  upon  the  commanders  to  preserve  their  sta 
tions  in  the  line."  Five  minutes  after  this  the  Detroit 
fired  a  second  24-pound  shot,  and  it  crashed  through 
the  Lawrences  starboard  bulwarks  and  sent  a  cloud  of 
splinters  over  the  men  stationed  at  the  batteries.  Sail 
ing- Master  Champlin,  of  the  Scorpion,  now  trained  his 
long  32-pounder  on  the  Detroit,  firing  the  first  Ameri 
can  shot  of  the  battle,  and  soon  afterward  Lieutenant 
John  H.  Packett,  of  the  Ariel,  who  had  been  a  mid 
shipman  in  the  Constitution  during  her  action  with  the 
Java,  fired  one  of  his  long  12-pounders.  The  Queen 
Charlotte  then  fired  her  first  gun,  which  was  aimed  by 
a  Canadian  gunner,  John  Chapman.  The  shot  went 
through  the  Lawrence's  mainmast,  while  another  shot 
fired  from  the  same  gun  entered  her  starboard  side  at 
the  water  line.  The  Lawrence  then  opened  fire  on  the 
Detroit  with  her  two  long  12-pounders,  to  which  the 


506  THE  BATTLE  OF  LAKE  ERIE.  1813. 

enemy  responded  with  long  24-,  18-  and  12-pounders, 
their  leading  ships  concentrating  their  fire  on  the 
American  flagship.  About  the  same  time  the  Niagara 
opened  with  her  two  long  12-pounders,  which  were 
handled  so  rapidly  that  in  a  short  time  nearly  all  the 
ammunition  for  these  guns  was  expended.  But  the 
enemy  paid  very  little  attention  to  her,  centering  his 
fire  on  the  Lawrence. 

Finding  that  he  was  suffering  heavily  from  the 
enemy's  long  guns,  Master-Commandant  Perry,  at  12.15 
p.  M.,  made  sail  to  get  at  close  quarters,  where  he  could 
bring  his  short  guns  into  play.  The  rest  of  the  Amer 
ican  line  followed  his  example,  but  the  slow-sailing 
Caledonia — a  prize  brig  built  for  burden  rather  than 
speed — being  immediately  astern  the  Lawrence,  com 
pelled  the  Niagara  and  the  vessels  in  her  wake  to 
shorten  sail  lest  they  should  run  ahead  of  her,  for  they 
had  received  peremptory  orders  "  to  preserve  their  sta 
tions  in  the  line."  As  Perry  did  not  signal  a  change 
in  these  instructions,  the  Lawrence,  with  only  the 
Scorpion  and  the  Ariel,  forged  considerably  ahead  of 
the  American  column  and  drew  upon  herself  the  prin 
cipal  fire  of  the  English  vessels.  Notwithstanding  this, 
Perry  gallantly  made  for  the  enemy's  flagship,  and 
when  about  five  hundred  yards  away  he  backed  his 
topsails  and  again  opened  fire,  while  the  Ariel  and  the 
Scorpion  engaged  the  CMppewa.  In  spite  of  the  fact 
that  these  schooners  were  destitute  of  bulwarks,  so  that 
their  crews  were  exposed  to  the  full  effect  of  grape  and 
canister,  they  were  gallantly  brought  into  close  action 
by  Lieutenant  John  H.  Packett  and  Sailing-Master 
Stephen  Champlin,  materially  assisting  the  Lawrence 
in  her  unequal  fight.  The  calm  caused  by  the  cannon 
ading  now  placed  the  American  flagship  in  a  critical 
position,  for  the  other  vessels  of  the  squadron  were  far 
from  supporting  distance. 

For  an  hour  Perry  fought  the  Detroit  and  the 
Hunter,  and  it  was  not  long  before  the  Queen  Charlotte 


1813.  AT  TREMENDOUS  ODDS.  507 

devoted  all  her  attention  to  Mm,  after  which  the  Lady 
Prevost,  which  was  next  to  the  last  ship  of  the  British 
line,  also  directed  her  broadsides  at  the  Lawrence. 
The  American  flagship  was  now  fighting  against  hope 
less  odds,  for  the  distance  was  too  great  for  short  guns 
to  be  really  effective,  and  it  became  a  battle  of  long 
guns.  In  this  the  three  American  vessels  in  effective 
gunshot  of  the  British  squadron  were  at  a  great  disad 
vantage,  for  there  were  only  seven  long  guns  in  the 
Lawrence,  Ariel  and  Scorpion  combined,  with  an  ag 
gregate  of  only  one  hundred  and  four  pounds  of  metal, 
while  among  the  English  vessels  that  were  devoting 
their  attention  to  the  Lawrence  were  thirty- two  long 
guns,  throwing  three  hundred  and  six  pounds  of  metal, 
so  that  a  comparison  of  the  forces  engaged  at  this  time 
would  result  as  follows  : 

Comparative  force  in  effective  range. 

Guns.  Lbs. 

American  :  7  104 

British  :  32  306 

The  concentrated  fire  of  almost  the  entire  British 
squadron  soon  reduced  the  American  flagship  to  a 
wreck.  One  by  one  her  guns  were  disabled  until  only 
one  on  her  engaged  side  could  be  worked.  Her  condi 
tion  at  the  end  of  an  hour  of  this  unequal  contest  was 
appalling.  Her  rigging  was  badly  damaged,  "  every 
brace  and  bowline  being  shot  away,"1  her  spars  were 
shattered  beyond  description,  the  sails  were  torn  into 
shreds  that  streamed  out  with  every  puff  of  air,  while 
out  of  her  complement  of  one  hundred  and  three  men 
fit  for  duty  eighty-three  had  been  killed  or  wounded. 
Every  corner  and  nook  of  the  brig  was  occupied  by 
some  wounded  and  dying  wretch  who  had  sought  the 
seclusion  so  that  he  might  spend  his  last  moments 
somewhat  removed  from  the  turmoil  of  battle  ;  but 

1  Official  report  of  Master-Commandant  Perry. 


508  THE  BATTLE  OF  LAKE  ERIE.  1813. 

even  this  poor  consolation  was  denied  him,  for  the 
ruthless  messengers  of  death  quickly  found  out  his 
hiding-place  and  crashed  through  his  mangled  body. 
The  rain  of  iron  and  lead  spared  neither  the  young  nor 
the  old.  Perry's  brother  James  was  struck  down  at 
his  side  by  a  splinter,  but  the  boy  fortunately  recov 
ered.  Seven  years  later  James,  while  at  Valparaiso  in 
the  United  States  man-of-war  Franklin,  was  drowned 
in  a  heroic  attempt  to  save  a  seaman  in  the  surf.  As 
the  vessels  gradually  drifted  to  closer  quarters  the  short 
guns  and  small  arms  became  more  effective.  Two  mus 
ket-balls  passed  through  Perry's  hat  and  his  clothing 
was  torn  by  splinters.  While  a  captain  of  one  of  the 
gun  crews  who  had  served  in  the  Constitution  was  aim 
ing  his  piece,  a  24-pound  shot  passed  through  his  chest. 

Toward  the  close  of  the  action  First-Lieutenant 
John  J.  Yarnall,  with  his  face  badly  lacerated,  came 
to  Perry  and  said:  UA11  the  officers  of  my  division 
are  cut  down.  Can  I  have  others?"  Perry  detailed 
several  of  his  aids,  but  in  a  few  minutes  Lieutenant 
Yarnall,  with  fresh  wounds,  again  returned  and  said : 
"  These  officers  also  have  been  cut  down.  I  need 
more."  Perry  replied  :  "I  have  no  more  to  give  you. 
You  must  endeavor  to  make  out  by  yourself."  UA11 
right,  sir,"  was  the  grim  response,  and  the  heroic  officer 
returned  to  his  division  and  directed  every  gun  with 
his  own  hands.  He  was  wounded  three  times,  and 
three  times  he  left  the  cockpit  in  order  to  return  to  his 
post.  His  second  wound  was  on  the  scalp,  which 
caused  streams  of  blood  to  flow  over  his  face,  at  times 
completely  blinding  him. 

Midshipman  Dulany  Forrest,  who  was  in  the  Con 
stitution  during  her  engagement  with  the  Java,  was 
stunne*d  by  a  grapeshot  and  fell  at  Perry's  feet.  Perry 
raised  him  up,  and  when  he  recovered  consciousness 
asked  if  he  was  seriously  injured.  The  midshipman 
replied,  "  I  am  not  hurt,  sir,  but  this  is  my  shot," 
and  extracting  the  grapeshot  from  his  clothing  where 


1813.       DREADFUL  SLAUGHTER  IN  THE  LAWRENCE.        599 

it  had  lodged,  he  coolly  put  it  in  his  pocket  and  walked 
to  his  station.  About  the  same  time  a  cannon  ball 
struck  First-Lieutenant  John  Brooks,  Jr.,  of  the  ma 
rines,  on  the  hip,  shattering  the  bones  in  a  horrible 
manner.  He  was  carried  below,  but  even  in  his  death 
agony  he  expressed  anxiety  for  the  outcome  of  the 
battle,  and  died  just  as  victory  was  announced.  One 
heavy  shot  crashed  into  the  large  china  closet  and 
smashed  everything  in  it  with  a  deafening  clatter.  A 
spaniel  which  had  been  locked  up  there,  startled  by 
this  noise,  added  to  the  tumult  of  the  battle  by  setting 
up  a  dismal  howling.  Several  times  the  flagship  was 
in  danger  of  blowing  up.  One  shot  went  through  the 
light  room  and  knocked  the  snuff  of  the  candle  into 
the  magazine,  but  the  gunner  extinguished  it  with  his 
hand.  Besides  this,  two  cannon  balls  passed  entirely 
through  the  magazine. 

The  most  revolting  carnage,  however,  was  in  the 
cockpit.  Ordinarily  this  room  was  below  the  water 
line,  and  safe  from  the  enemy's  shot,  but  the  Law 
rence,  being  a  shallow  craft,  had  not  room  for  it,  so 
that  the  wardroom,  which  was  considerably  above  the 
water  line,  was  used  for  this  purpose.  Many  of  the 
men  were  killed  while  being  carried  below,  and  some 
were  struck  by  cannon  balls  while  under  the  surgeon's 
hand.  Midshipman  Henry  Laub,  who  had  come  down 
to  have  his  shattered  arm  dressed,  was  leaning  forward 
to  lie  down  after  the  operation  had  been  performed 
and  was  struck  on  the  side  by  a  24-pound  shot  which 
came  through  the  side  of  the  vessel,  and  dashed  his 
mutilated  body  against  the  opposite  side  of  the  room, 
killing  him  instantly.  A  Narragansett  Indian  named 
Pohig,  who  was  serving  in  the  Lawrence  as  one  of  her 
crew,  was  killed  in  the  same  manner.  No  fewer  than 
six  cannon  shot  passed  through  the  cockpit,  one  of 
them  clearing  Assistant- Surgeon  Usher  Parsons'  head 
by  only  a  few  inches.  Nothing  but  the  pine  planks  of 
the  deck  above  separated  the  cockpit  from  the  dread- 


510  THE   BATTLE   OF  LAKE  ERIE.  1813. 

ful  turmoil  of  battle.  The  groans  and  shrieks  of  the 
wounded  and  dying,  the  deep  rumblings  and  reverber 
ations  of  the  gun  carriages  as  they  were  run  in  and 
out  of  the  ports,  the  awful  explosion  of  cannon,  the 
crash  of  round  shot  as  it  shattered  the  boats  at  the 
davits,  stove  in  the  bulwarks  or  brought  heavy  spars 
tumbling  to  the  deck,  could  be  distinctly  heard  ;  while 
the  opening  seams  in  the  deck  allowed  the  blood  to 
stream  on  the  surgeon's  table  in  little  rills.  When 
the  battle  had  raged  three  quarters  of  an  hour  Mas 
ter-Commandant  Perry  stepped  to  the  skylight  over 
the  wardroom  and  ordered  the  surgeon  to  send  up 
one  of  his  aids  to  assist  in  manning  the  guns.  The 
command  was  obeyed,  but  in  five  minutes  another 
aid  was  called  for,  and  this  was  repeated  till  only  the 
surgeon  himself  was  left  in  the  cockpit.  Finally  Per 
ry  called  out,  "Can  any  of  the  wounded  pull  a 
rope  ? "  Two  or  three  mangled  men  crawled  out  and 
lent  a  feeble  hand  in  training  the  few  remaining  guns. 
But  even  this  help  was  soon  exhausted,  so  that  Perry 
himself,  with  the  aid  of  his  chaplain  and  purser, 
loaded,  trained,  and  fired  the  last  gun  in  the  Law 
rence. 

At  half-past  two  o'clock  the  Lawrence,  the  Ariel 
and  the  Scorpion  had  borne  the  brunt  of  the  battle  for 
two  hours  and  forty-five  minutes.  About  this  time  a 
breeze  sprang  up,  and  Master-Commandant  Elliott  of 
the  Niagara,  observing  the  desperate  condition  of  the 
Lawrence,  and  fearing  that  Perry  had  been  killed,  as 
no  signal  to  change  the  order  of  the  battle  had  been 
given,  instructed  Lieutenant  Turner,  of  the  Caledo 
nia,  to  bear  down  on  the  Hunter,  while  he  forged 
ahead  to  the  relief  of  the  Lawrence.  As  the  crippled 
flagship  was  rapidly  drifting  out  of  action,  and  the 
Niagara  was  comparatively  uninjured,  Master- Com 
mandant  Perry  determined  to  change  his  flag  to  her. 
"The  American  commander,  seeing  that  as  yet  the 
day  was  against  him,  made  a  noble  effort  to  regain 


OF  THE 

UNIVERSITY 


1813.    PERRY  CHANGES  HIS  FLAG  TO  THE  NIAGARA.     51 1 

it."1  Leaving  First-Lieutenant  John  J.  Yarnall  in 
command,  with  orders  to  hold  out  to  the  last,  Perry, 
with  his  broad  pennant  over  his  arm,  got  into  a  boat 
with  his  brother  James  and  four  seamen.  Just  as 
they  were  shoving  off  from  the  side  of  the  brig  one  of 
the  survivors  in  the  Lawrence,  Hosea  Sargeant,  hauled 
down  the  blue  flag  bearing  the  motto  "Don't  give  up 
the  ship ! "  rolled  it  up  and  tossed  it  to  Perry.  A 
survivor  of  the  action,  John  Chapman,  who  was  serv 
ing  as  a  gunner  in  the  Queen  Charlotte,  describes  the 
passage  of  Perry's  boat  from  the  Lawrence  to  the  Ni 
agara  as  follows:  "The  Lawrence  being  disabled, 
Perry  took  advantage  of  the  settling  smoke  upon  the 
British  fleet  to  go  from  her  to  the  Niagara.  We  did 
not  see  him  until  he  had  nearly  effected  his  purpose, 
but  the  wind  causing  the  smoke  to  lift,  I  saw  the  boat 
and  aimed  a  shot  at  her,  and  saw  the  shot  strike  the 
boat.  I  then  saw  Perry  strip  off  his  coat  and  plug 
the  hole  with  it,  which  prevented  the  boat  from  fill 
ing  before  it  reached  the  Niagara" 

Clambering  up  the  side  of  the  Niagara,  Master- 
Commandant  Perry  quickly  rehoisted  his  broad  pen 
nant  and  the  flag  bearing  the  words  of  the  dying  Law 
rence,  and  after  a  hurried  consultation  he  sent  Master- 
Commandant  Elliott  in  a  boat  with  orders  to  bring  up 
the  schooners.  Pulling  along  the  line,  that  officer 
spoke  to  the  vessels  and  then  repaired  aboard  the 
Corners.  Before  the  squadron  could  close  on  the 
enemy,  however,  Master-Commandant  Perry,  with  "un 
speakable  grief,"  beheld  the  surrender  of  the  Law 
rence.  But  it  could  not  have  been  otherwise.  Every 
thing  that  a  heroic  officer  could  do  had  been  done, 
every  gun  on  the  engaged  side  was  disabled,  nearly 
every  man  was  either  killed  or  wounded,  and  after  a 
consultation  with  Midshipman  Forrest  and  Sailing-Mas 
ter  Taylor,  Lieutenant  Yarnall  decided  to  surrender  in 

1  Official  report  of  Commander  Barclay. 


512 


THE  BATTLE  OF  LAKE  ERIE. 


1813. 


order  to  prevent  a  useless  mutilation  of  the  wounded 
and  dying,  and  the  flag  was  lowered.  The  English 
now  gave  three  cheers,  for  they  believed  that  they  had 
won  the  battle.  As  they  were  unable  to  take  posses 
sion  of  the  Lawrence  she  drifted  down  between  the 
two  lines  of  battle,  and  was  soon  out  of  range  and 
rehoisted  her  colors. 

At  forty-five  minutes  past  two  the  British  endeav 
ored  to  swing  around  so  as  to  bring  fresh  broadsides 
into  play,  but  in  so  doing  their  line  became  broken  and 
entangled.  Seeing  the  Niagara  coming  down  to  close 
quarters,  Provincial  Lieutenant  Irvine,  on  whom  the 
command  of  the  Queen  Charlotte  had  devolved,  deter 
mined  to  pour  a  broadside  into  her  and  then  board,  but 
his  plan  was  frustrated  by  the  sudden  failing  of  the 
wind,  which  just  before  had  been  fresh.  At  this  mo 
ment  a  shot  carried  away  "a  down  haul  of  one  of  the 
'  sails,  which  left  her  at  the 

mercy  of  the  wind,  which 
again  rose  suddenly,  and 
she  ran  foul  of  the  De 
troit  and  became  entangled 
with  her."1  The  Niagara 
now  gave  the  signal  for 
u  close  action,"  backed  her 
maintopsails,  and,  running 
across  the  bow  and  stern 
of  the  two  English  ships, 
raked  them  fore  and  aft 
with  her  starboard  broad 
side.  The  effect  of  this  fire 
at  such  close  quarters  was 
dreadful.  The  storm  of 


-VKN 


v\\x  w-T 


Diagram  of  the  battle,  No.  2. 


iron  swept  along  the  decks  of  the  enemy,  tearing  ghast 
ly  chasms  through  the  crowds  of  officers  and  men. 
Not  waiting  to  repeat  this,  the  Niagara  continued  her 


1  Account  of  John  Chapman. 


1813.  SURRENDER  OF  THE  ENGLISH.  513 

course,  and,  running  astern  of  the  Lady  Prewst,  de 
livered  another  raking  fire  with  her  port  battery,  and 
then  running  off  she  made  for  the  Hunter. 

The  example  of  the  Niagara  was  gallantly  imitated 
by  the  other  vessels  of  the  American  squadron.  Lieu 
tenant  Turner,  in  the  Caledonia,  closely  followed  his 
senior  officer,  while  the  Ariel,  the  Somers,  the  Scor 
pion,  the  Tigress  and  the  Porcupine  darted  among 
the  English  vessels  and  for  eight  minutes  kept  up  a 
furious  cannonading.  Asel  Wilkinson,  who  stood  at 
the  helm  of  the  Ariel  all  through  the  battle,  had  his 
cartridge  box  torn  from  his  belt  by  a  cannon  shot,  while 
the  concussion  of  the  artillery  brought  blood  from  his 
ears  and  nose.  For  the  first  time  the  entire  American 
squadron  was  engaged  at  close  quarters.  John  Chap 
man  said:  "The  American  schooners,  coming  into 
close  action,  raked  fore  and  aft,  carrying  away  all  the 
masts  of  the  Detroit  and  the  mizzenmast  of  the  Queen 
Charlotte,  besides  crippling  her  severely  otherwise.  I 
remained  at  my  gun  through  the  action,  except  when 
I  was  obliged  to  bring  cartridges  for  the  gun  after  the 
men  were  killed  whose  duty  it  was  to  serve  them.  I 
had  my  clothes,  whiskers  and  hair  badly  singed  by  the 
accidental  discharge  of  some  loose  powder,  but  suffered 
no  further  injury  notwithstanding  I  had  a  24-pound 
cartridge  in  my  hand  at  the  time."  At  3  P.  M.,  or  fif 
teen  minutes  from  the  time  the  breeze  enabled  the 
Americans  to  close,  an  officer  appeared  on  the  taffrail 
of  the  Hunter,  waving  a  white  handkerchief  at  the  end 
of  a  boarding-pike  as  a  signal  of  surrender.  The  Niag 
ara  immediately  ceased  firing,  while  word  was  passed 
that  the  enemy  had  struck.  Two  of  the  English  ves 
sels,  the  Chippewa  and  the  Little  Belt,  availing  them 
selves  of  the  smoke  and  confusion,  crowded  on  all  sail 
to  escape,  but  they  were  pursued  by  the  Trippe  and  the 
Scorpion  and  were  brought  back. 

Determined  to  have  the  formality  of  receiving  the 
surrender  of  the  British  squadron  take  place  in  the 


514  THE  BATTLE  OF  LAKE  ERIE.  1813. 

battle-scarred  Lawrence  and  in  the  presence  of  her 
heroic  defenders,  Master-Commandant  Perry  again 
lowered  his  broad  pennant,  and  jumping  into  a  boat 
made  for  his  first  flagship,  which  by  this  time  had 
drifted  considerably  to  leeward.  As  soon  as  the  sur 
vivors  in  the  Lawrence  learned  that  the  English  had 
surrendered  they  gave  three  feeble  cheers.  Even  when 
afar  off  they  recognized  Perry  in  the  boat,  and  the  news 
that  he  was  coming  aboard  quickly  spread  through  the 
brig,  while  those  who  were  able  gathered  at  the  gang 
way.  As  they  stood  there,  awaiting  their  commander, 
they  formed  a  striking  group.  Few  of  them  were  un 
injured.  Many  of  them  had  an  arm  or  leg  bound  and 
splinted,  others  had  blood-soaked  bandages  around 
their  heads  or  other  parts  of  the  body,  the  clothing  of 
all  was  torn  and  steeped  in  gore,  while  their  faces  and 
arms  were  blackened  with  the  grime  of  burned  powder, 
and  had  it  not  been  for  the  streams  of  perspiration  that 
had  furrowed  down  their  faces,  revealing  streaks  of 
white  skin,  they  might  well  have  been  taken  for  black 
men.  One  of  the  last  to  join  this  group  was  Assistant- 
Surgeon  Usher  Parsons.  Hearing  that  his  commander 
was  coming  aboard,  he  left  his  revolting  task  in  the 
cockpit,  and,  smeared  from  head  to  foot  with  blood, 
ascended  to  the  deck,  leaving  a  bloody  trail  as  he 
walked  along  and  red  handmarks  on  everything  that  he 
touched.  "  When  Master-Commandant  Perry  stepped 
upon  the  deck,"  wrote  Dr.  Parsons,  "it  was  a  time  of 
conflicting  emotions.  Not  a  cheer  was  heard  ;  the  hand 
ful  of  men  that  was  left  of  the  gallant  crew  silently 
greeted  their  commander."  As  Perry  gazed  around 
him  the  decks  presented  the  appearance  of  a  slaughter 
house.  The  only  sounds  that  broke  the  mournful  si 
lence  were  the  groans  of  the  wounded  and  dying  that 
came  from  all  parts  of  the  battered  flagship.  The 
decks  were  still  slippery  with  blood.  The  masts,  brok 
en  gun  carriages,  dismounted  cannon,  coils  of  rope, 
and  shattered  timbers,  were  smeared  with  gore,  while 


1813.  CLOSING  SCENES  OF  THE   BATTLE.  515 

fragments  of  human  bodies  were  visible  in  every  di 
rection. 

The  surviving  officers  from  the  different  English 
vessels  now  began  to  arrive  alongside  of  the  Lawrence. 
One  by  one  they  stepped  over  the  gangway  and  cast  a 
wondering  glance  at  the  destruction  and  butchery  they 
had  caused  and  the  great  sufferings  the  Americans  had 
endured.  Then,  carefully  picking  their  way  over  the 
bodies  of  the  slain,  they  went  aft,  where  Perry  in  quiet 
dignity  stood  to  receive  them.  As  each  one  presented 
his  sword  the  American  commander  bade  him  retain  it. 
Immediately  on  receiving  the  surrender  Perry  wrote 
with  a  pencil  on  the  back  of  an  old  letter,  using  his  cap 
for  a  desk,  his  famous  dispatch:  "We  have  met  the 
enemy  and  they  are  ours — two  ships,  two  brigs,  one 
schooner  and  one  sloop,"  which  he  sent  to  General  Wil 
liam  Henry  Harrison  by  Midshipman  Forrest.  Ar 
rangements  were  then  made  for  collecting  the  dead  in 
both  squadrons  and  preparing  them  for  burial.  Each 
body  was  sewed  in  a  canvas  shroud  with  a  cannon  ball 
at  the  foot,  and  as  the  moon  rose  over  the  lake  on  that 
beautiful  September  evening  they  were  dropped  over 
the  sides  of  the  vessels  into  the  clear  waters,  where 
they  rapidly  sank,  swirling  round  and  round  and  grow 
ing  more  and  more  indistinct  until  they  vanished.  On 
the  morning  of  September  12th  the  bodies  of  Lieuten 
ant  John  Brooks,  Jr.,  and  Midshipman  John  Clark,  of 
the  American  squadron,  and  of  Captain  Finnis  and 
Lieutenants  Thomas  Stokoe  and  John  Garland,  of  the 
English  squadron,  were  buried  side  by  side  on  South 
Bass  Island. 

The  loss  in  the  American  squadron  was  :  Lawrence^ 
twenty-two  killed  and  sixty-one  wounded  ;  Niagara^ 
two  killed  and  twenty-five  wounded  ;  Ariel,  one  killed 
and  three  wounded  ;  Scorpion,  two  killed  ;  Caledonia, 
three  wounded  ;  Somers,  two  wounded  ;  Trippe,  two 
wounded  ;  in  all,  twenty-seven  killed  and  ninety-six 
wounded,  making  a  total  of  one  hundred  and  twenty- 


516  THE  BATTLE  OF  LAKE  ERIE.  1813. 

three.1  Twelve  of  the  American  quarter-deck  officers 
were  killed.  Besides  those  already  mentioned,  the  fol 
lowing  were  wounded :  Midshipmen  Dulany  Forrest, 
Augustus  Swartwout,  Thomas  Claxton,  John  C.  Cum- 
mings  and  Sailing-Master  William  Vigneron  Taylor. 
In  this  action  one  of  the  ArieTs  guns,  two  of  the  long 
guns  in  the  brigs  and  the  Caledonia's  two  long  guns 
burst.  The  loss  in  the  British  squadron  was  forty- 
one  killed  and  ninety-four  wounded,  making  a  total 
of  one  hundred  and  thirty -five.2  Commander  Barclay 
conducted  himself  throughout  the  battle  with  great 
bravery.  He  was  twice  wounded,  once  in  the  thigh 
and  again  in  the  shoulder,  so  that  he  lost  the  use  of 
his  remaining  arm.  The  first  lieutenant  of  the  De 
troit  was  killed,  and  the  purser,  J.  M.  Hoifmeister, 
was  severely  wounded  in  the  knee.  In  the  Queen 
Charlotte,  Captain  Finnis  was  mortally  wounded  early 
in  the  action  and  died  the  same  evening,  while  his  first 
lieutenant,  Thomas  Stokoe,  and  Midshipman  James 
Foster  also  were  desperately  wounded.  Lieutenant 
Buchan  and  Lieutenant  F.  Rolette,  of  the  Lady  Pre- 
vost,  were  wounded,  the  former  having  been  shot 
through  the  face  by  one  of  the  American  marines. 
When  Perry  first  noticed  him,  Buchan  was  standing 
alone  on  the  deck  of  his  vessel  (all  his  men  having  run 
below),  leaning  against  the  companionway,  resting  his 
chin  on  his  hands  and  looking  at  the  Niagara  with 
a  fixed,  meaningless  stare.  It  was  afterward  learned 
that  the  man  had  lost  his  mind  from  the  effects  of 
his  wound.  Lieutenant  Bignell,  the  commander  of 
the  Hunter,  and  Master's-Mate  Henry  Gateshill  were 
wounded,  and  so  was  Master's-Mate  J.  Campbell  of  the 
CJtippewa.  Lieutenant  S.  James  Garden  was  killed. 
The  Detroit  and  the  Queen  Charlotte,  having  much  of 
their  standing  rigging  cut  away,  while  at  anchor  in 

1  Official  report  of  Master-Commandant  Perry. 
9  Official  report  of  Commander  Barclay. 


1813.  SCENES  AFTER  THE  SURRENDER.  517 

Put-in- Bay  two  days  afterward  rolled  their  masts  out 
in  a  gale.  The  colors  of  the  Detroit,  the  Lady  Pre- 
vost,  the  Hunter,  the  Little  Belt  and  the  CJdppewa  are 
preserved  in  the  Naval  Institute  building  at  Annapolis. 

Comparative  force  and  loss. 

Guns.         Lbs.         Crew.    Killed.  Wounded.  Total. 

Americans:         54       1,428        490        27         96        123)      Time 
British:  63         852        502        41         94        135  \  3h.  15m. 

The  fire  of  the  Lawrence  was  not  so  effective  as  it 
might  have  been,  owing  to  the  fact  that  her  carronades 
had  been  overshotted,  some  of  them  having  been  loaded 
with  round,  grape  and  canister,  and  in  some  instances 
with  langrage  on  top  of  that.  It  is  said  that  many  of 
her  round  shot  struck  the  enemy's  hull  and  rebounded 
into  the  lake,  while  others  remained  sticking  in  the 
sides  without  penetrating.  When  the  Americans 
boarded  the  Detroit  they  found  a  pet  bear  lapping  the 
blood  of  his  recent  masters.  Two  panic-stricken  Indian 
chiefs,  dressed  in  the  uniform  of  British  sailors,  were 
discovered  skulking  in  the  hold  of  the  Detroit.  They, 
with  other  Indians,  had  been  placed  in  the  tops  to  pick 
off  the  American  officers,  but  becoming  terrified  when 
the  cannonading  began  they  fled  into  "the  uttermost 
parts  of  the  ship, "  and  when  brought  before  Perry  they 
expected  to  be  tortured.  "  Our  surrender  was  uncon 
ditional.  All  the  prisoners  who  were  not  wounded  were 
put  on  board  the  Porcupine  and  afterward  were  landed 
at  Cannon  River,  and  from  thence  they  were  sent  to 
Chillicothe.  The  conduct  of  Perry  was  magnanimous, 
every  kindness  being  shown  to  the  wounded  and  pris 
oners,  and  it  made  a  deep  impression  in  his  favor  upon 
all  our  hearts.  He  showed  himself  as  humane  toward 
the  fallen  as  he  had  shown  himself  brave  in  the  pres 
ence  of  a  resisting  foe.  The  commander  of  the  Porcu 
pine,  to  which  we  were  transferred,  was  equally  kind. 
He  ordered  food  and  grog  to  be  served  to  us  when  we 
went  on  board,  which  was  at  an  unseasonable  hour,  and 


518  THE  BATTLE  OF  LAKE   ERIE.  1813. 

was  quite  unexpected,  it  being  but  the  dictates  of  his 
humanity."  *  "Captain  Perry  has  behaved  in  a  most 
humane  and  attentive  manner,  not  only  to  myself  and 
officers,  but  to  all  the  wounded."2 

In  speaking  of  the  conduct  of  his  officers  and  men 
Master-Commandant  Perry  said  :  u  Lieutenant  Yarnall, 
although  several  times  wounded,  refused  to  quit  the 
deck.  Midshipman  Forrest  and  Sailing-Master  Taylor 
were  of  great  assistance  to  me.  I  have  great  pain  in 
reporting  the  death  of  Lieutenant  John  Brooks,  of  the 
marines,  and  Midshipmen  Henry  Laub,  of  the  Law 
rence,  and  John  Clark,  of  the  Scorpion;  they  were 
valuable  and  promising  officers.  Samuel  Hambleton, 
purser,  who  volunteered  his  services  on  deck,  wras 
severely  wounded  late  in  the  action.  Midshipmen 
Thomas  Claxton  and  Augustus  Swartwout,  of  the  Law 
rence^  were  severely  wounded.  Lieutenants  Smith  and 
John  J.  Edwards  and  Midshipman  Nelson  Webster, 
of  the  Niagara,  behaved  in  a  very  handsome  manner. 
Captain  Brevoort,  of  the  army,  who  acted  as  a  volun 
teer  marine  in  the  Niagara,  is  an  excellent  and  brave 
officer,  and  did  great  execution  with  his  musketry. 
Lieutenant  Turner,  of  the  Caledonia,  brought  that  ves 
sel  into  action  in  a  most  able  manner,  and  is  an  officer 
who  in  all  situations  may  be  relied  on.  The  Ariel, 
Lieutenant  Packett,  and  the  Scorpion,  Sailing-Master 
Champlin,  were  enabled  to  get  into  action  early,  and 
were  of  great  service.  Master-Commandant  Elliott 
spoke  in  the  highest  terms  of  Humphrey  Magrath, 
purser,  who  had  been  dispatched  in  a  boat  on  service 
previously  to  my  getting  on  board  the  Niagara,  and, 
being  a  seaman,  had  rendered  essential  service  since 
the  action  by  taking  charge  of  one  of  the  prizes.  Of 
Master-Commandant  Elliott,  already  so  well  known  to 
the  Government,  it  would  be  almost  superfluous  to 

1  Account  of  John  Chapman. 

2  Official  report  of  Commander  Barclay. 


1813.  RESULTS  OF  THE   VICTORY.  519 

speak.  In  this  action  he  evinced  his  characteristic 
bravery  and  judgment." 

The  result  of  this  battle  was  awaited  with  great 
anxiety  by  all  the  American  settlers  in  that  part  of  the 
country,  for  Proctor  and  Tecumseh  were  at  Maiden 
with  five  thousand  men,  ready  to  cross  the  frontier  and 
devastate  the  territory.  The  roar  of  the  cannonading 
resounded  many  miles  along  the  shores  of  Lake  Erie, 
and  all  day  long  terrified  men,  women  and  children 
in  breathless  suspense  awaited  the  outcome,  ready  to 
flee  from  their  homes  if  the  dreaded  savages,  under 
the  guidance  of  British  officers,  were  again  let  loose  on 
them.  By  this  victory  the  enemy  was  compelled  to 
evacuate  Detroit  and  Michigan,  and  on  the  23d  of  Sep 
tember  Captain  Perry  conveyed  twelve  hundred  troops 
up  the  lake  and  took  possession  of  Maiden.  On  the 
27th  he  reoccupied  Detroit  in  conjunction  with  the 
army,  so  that  what  had  been  lost  by  the  land  forces 
in  1812  was  recovered  by  the  navy  in  1813.  On  the  2d 
of  October  Master-Commandant  Elliott  ascended  the 
Thames  with  the  Scorpion,  the  Porcupine  and  the 
Tigress. 

Master-Commandant  Perry  was  promoted  to  the 
rank  of  captain,  his  commission  bearing  the  date  of 
his  great  victory,  but  it  did  not  reach  him  until  the 
29th  of  November.  On  the  25th  of  October  he  resigned 
from  his  command  on  Lake  Erie,  and  was  appointed 
commander  of  the  new  44-gun  frigate  Java,  then  fit 
ting  out  at  Baltimore.  Congress  awarded  gold  medals 
to  Captain  Perry  and  to  Master-Commandant  Elliott, 
silver  medals  to  each  of  the  commissioned  officers,  a 
silver  medal  to  the  nearest  male  relatives  of  Lieutenant 
Brooks,  of  the  marines,  and  swords  to  the  nearest  male 
relatives  of  Midshipmen  Henry  Laub,  Thomas  Clax- 
ton  and  John  Clark,  besides  three  months'  extra 
pay  to  all  the  officers,  seamen  and  marines.  Con 
gress  voted  two  hundred  and  twenty-five  thousand 
dollars  to  the  captors  of  the  British  squadron  as 

36 


520  THE  BATTLE  OF  LAKE  ERIE.  1813. 

prize  money,  which  was  divided  as  follows :  Captain 
Chauncey,  as  the  superior  officer  on  the  Great  Lakes, 
$12,750  ;  Captain  Perry  and  Master  -  Commandant 
Elliott,  $7,140  each  (besides  which  Congress  voted 
Captain  Perry  an  additional  $5,000) ;  each  commander 
of  a  gunboat,  lieutenant,  sailing-master  and  lieutenant 
of  marines,  $2,295  each ;  midshipmen,  $811  each ; 
petty  officers,  $447  each ;  marines  and  sailors,  $209 
each. 

Orlando  Allen,  in  a  paper  read  before  the  Buffalo 
Historical  Society,  April,  1863,  said  :  "When  the  Erie 
Canal  was  opened  the  guns  of  Perry's  squadron  were 
placed  along  the  whole  line  of  the  new  water  way, 
about  ten  miles  apart,  and  when  the  first  fleet  of  boats 
left  Buffalo  the  fact  was  literally  announced  in  '  thun 
der  tones'  in  one  hour  and  twenty  minutes  to  the 
citizens  of  New  York,  by  a  serial  discharge  of  these 
guns." 

NOTE. — Thomas  Holdup  Stevens,  who  commanded  the  Trippe  with 
such  distinguished  bravery  in  this  action,  became  a  midshipman  in  1809 
and  volunteered  for  service  on  the  lakes  early  in  the  war.  He  took  part 
in  the  night  attack  on  the  English  works  opposite  Black  Rock,  and  was 
one  of  the  leaders  of  a  detachment  that  captured  the  enemy's  artillery 
and  of  a  scaling  party  which  dislodged  the  British  grenadiers.  In  this 
brilliant  exploit  nine  of  the  twelve  naval  officers  participating  were  killed 
or  wounded.  Although  wounded  in  the  hand  by  a  canister  shot,  he  re 
mained  on  the  British  side  of  the  river  after  the  naval  force  had  retired. 
He,  with  two  other  midshipmen,  made  their  escape  across  the  Niagara 
River  in  a  leaky  canoe.  For  his  bravery  in  this  action  he  was  made  lieu 
tenant.  In  the  battle  of  Lake  Erie  he  boldly  passed  the  Tigress  and  the 
Porcupine,  and  poured  grape  and  canister  into  the  Queen  Charlotte  until 
she  struck.  For  his  conspicuous  services  in  this  action  Congress  voted 
him  a  silver  medal  and  the  citizens  of  Charleston  gave  him  a  sword.  In 
1814  he  was  ordered  to  the  new  44-gun  frigate  Java.  In  the  war  for  the 
suppression  of  West  India  piracy  he  again  won  distinction  as  the  com 
mander  of  the  Asp,  and  then  of  the  Jackal  and  the  Shark.  He  was  made 
master  commandant,  March  3,  1825.  He  reached  the  highest  rank  at  that 
time  in  the  navy — that  of  captain — January  27, 1836,  and  died  in  Washing 
ton,  January  22,  1841,  while  in  command  of  the  Washington  Navy  Yard. 
His  son,  Thomas  Holdup  Stevens,  is  now  a  rear-admiral  in  the  navy. 


CHAPTER  X. 

THE  ACTIVE    NAVAL   WAR    OF    1813. 

THE  success  of  the  little  navy  of  the  United  States 
in  its  struggle  against  the  mistress  of  the  ocean  in 
the  first  seven  months  of  the  war  was  so  great  that 
Congress  determined  to  increase  its  naval  force,  and 
on  the  2d  of  January,  1813,  it  ordered  the  construc 
tion  of  four  ships  of  the  line  to  carry  not  fewer  than 
seventy-four  guns  each,  six  44-gun  frigates  and  six 
sloops  of  war,  the  last  to  be  armed  with  twenty  short 
32-pounders  and  two  long  guns. 

On  the  30th  of  April,  Captain  John  Rodgers,  in  the 
President,  again  accompanied  by  the  Congress,  Cap 
tain  John  Smith,  sailed  from  Boston  on  his  third  cruise 
against  the  enemy.  On  the  2d  of  May  he  fell  in  with 
the  British  18-gun  sloop  of  war  Curleio,  Captain  Mi 
chael  Head,  but  after  a  protracted  chase  the  sloop  es* 
caped.  A  few  days  afterward  the  frigates  separated. 
The  Congress,  taking  a  southeast  course,  cruised  for 
many  months  in  the  south  Atlantic,  but  meeting  little 
success,  Captain  Smith  returned  to  the  United  States, 
arriving  at  Portsmouth  on  the  14th  of  December.  In 
this  cruise  of  two  hundred  and  twenty-nine  days  the 
Congress  took  but  four  merchantmen.  The  President 
reached  the  Grand  Banks,  where  Captain  Rodgers 
hoped  to  intercept  vessels  engaged  in  the  West  India 
and  Quebec  trade.  But  in  this  he  was  disappointed, 
and,  stretching  over  to  the  Azores,  he  cruised  in  the 
vicinity  of  those  islands  until  the  6th  of  June,  when, 
shaping  his  course  northward,  he  endeavored  to  fall  in 
with  the  West  India  fleet.  Failing  in  this,  he  cruised 

(521) 


522  THE  ACTIVE  NAVAL  WAR  OF   1813.  1813. 

off  the  Shetland  Islands,  and  then  put  into  North  Ber 
gen  for  supplies.  On  the  19th  of  July  he  was  off 
North  Cape  for  the  purpose  of  intercepting  the  Arch 
angel  fleet,  but  after  waiting  some  days  in  vain  for 
these  ships,  he  made  sail  on  the  3d  of  August  for  the 
United  States. 

On  the  23d  of  September,  when  a  little  to  the 
south  of  Nan  tucket  Shoals,  the  President  descried  a 
schooner  that  was  flying  a  private  signal,  and  the 
Americans  hoisted  a  signal  in  return.  Upon  this  the 
stranger  promptly  ran  down  and  reported  herself  to  be 
the  High  Flyer,  Lieutenant  George  Hutchinson,  ten 
der  to  the  ship  of  the  line  San  Domingo.  Captain 
Rodgers  ordered  one  of  his  officers  to  dress  in  a  British 
uniform  and  go  aboard  the  High  Flyer.  The  com 
mander  of  the  tender,  however,  did  not  wait  to  be 
boarded,  but  manned  his  gig  and  pulled  for  the  Presi 
dent,  supposing  her  to  be  an  English  frigate.  In 
the  mean  time  the  American  officer  had  reached  the 
High  Flyer  and  demanded  of  the  lieutenant  in  com 
mand  the  book  of  private  signals  and  instructions. 
These  were  handed  over,  upon  which  the  officer  re 
turned  to  the  President.  By  this  artifice  Captain 
Rodgers  came  into  possession  of  the  British  signals, 
and  also  Admiral  Warren's  private  instructions  to  all 
commanders  in  his  fleet,  besides  ascertaining  the  posi 
tion  of  the  English  ships  on  the  North  American  sta 
tion,  the  force  of  each,  and  their  intended  movements. 
A  private  circular  was  found,  instructing  British  com 
manders  to  capture  the  President  at  any  cost.  This 
valuable  information  was  forwarded  to  the  Secretary  of 
the  Navy,  and  enabled  our  cruisers,  which  otherwise 
must  have  remained  blockaded,  to  get  to  sea.  In  this 
cruise  of  one  hundred  and  forty-seven  days  the  Presi 
dent  captured  twelve  vessels,  while  many  times  her 
force  was  employed  in  looking  for  her  in  distant  seas. 

On  the  14th  of  July  the  United  States  3-gun  sloop 
Asp,  commanded  by  Midshipman  J.  B.  Sigourney,  who 


1813.  GALLANT  DEFENSE   OF  THE   ASP.  523 

had  served  under  Master-Commandant  James  Law 
rence  in  the  Hornet,  while  in  Yeocomico  Creek,  Vir 
ginia,  was  attacked  by  a  boat  party  from  English  war 
vessels.  Being  repelled  in  their  first  attack,  the  British 
returned  with  re-enforcements  and  succeeded  in  taking 
the  craft,  and  after  setting  her  on  fire  they  returned  to 
their  boats.  Upon  this  the  Americans  hastened  to  the 
Asp  and  extinguished  the  flames.  In  this  affair  the 
enemy  gave  no  quarter.  Midshipman  Sigourney  was 
shot  through  the  body  in  the  first  attack,  but  he  re 
fused  to  go  below.  While  he  was  sitting  on  the  deck, 
leaning  against  the  mast,  animating  his  men  by  his  ex 
ample,  a  British  marine  stepped  up  to  him  and  deliber 
ately  shot  him  through  the  head.  Midshipman  Henry 
M.  M'Clintock  succeeded  him  in  the  command.  Out  of 
a  crew  of  twenty-one  men  the  Asp  lost  ten,1  while  the 
enemy's  loss  was  even  greater. 

The  Argus,  on  her  return  from  her  cruise  under 
Master-Commandant  Arthur  Sinclair,  was  placed  under 
the  command  of  Master-Commandant  William  Henry 
Allen,  who  had  been  the  first  lieutenant  in  the  United 
States  during  her  engagement  with  the  Macedonian. 
The  Argus  was  ordered  to  convey  William  H.  Craw 
ford,  United  States  minister,  and  suite  to  France. 
Sailing  from  New  York  on  the  18th  of  June,  1813, 
they  reached  L'Orient  after  a  passage  of  twenty-three 
days.  Remaining  in  port  only  long  enough  to  refit, 
Master-Commandant  Allen  sailed  again  for  the  English 
Channel,  and  then  around  by  Land's  '  End  into  the 
Irish  Sea.  In  this  short  cruise  the  little  brig  captured 
twenty  vessels,  valued  at  two  and  a  half  million  dollars, 
most  of  which  were  destroyed,  a  few  of  the  more  valu 
able  cargoes  being  sent  to  France.  This  destruction 
of  British  commerce  spread  consternation  among  Eng 
lish  merchants  ;  for  a  time  only  a  few  vessels  ventured 
from  port,  while  insurance  rose  to  ruinous  rates,  and 

1  Official  report  of  Midshipman  M'Clintock. 


524:  THE  ACTIVE  NAVAL  WAR  OF   1813.  1813. 

cruisers  were  hastily  fitted  and  sent  out  to  destroy  the 
mischievous  Argus.  On  the  night  of  August  13th 
Master- Commandant  Allen  captured  a  vessel  from 
Oporto,  which  he  burned  a  little  before  daylight,  the 
Argus  being  then  in  latitude  52°  15'  North  and  longi 
tude  5°  50'  West,  about  fifteen  miles  west  of  St.  David's 
Head.  As  day  broke,  a  large  brig  was  discovered  bear 
ing  down  upon  the  Argus  under  a  press  of  canvas, 
the  wind  being  from  the  south  and  the  Argus  standing 
close  hauled  on  the  starboard  tack.  The  stranger  soon 
proved  to  be  a  heavy  brig  of  war,  and  the  Americans 
made  preparations  for  battle,  notwithstanding  the  fact 
that  their  vessel  was  smaller  than  their  antagonist. 
For  some  time  Master-Commandant  Allen  manoeuvred 
to  gain  the  weather  gage,  but  failing  in  this  he  short 
ened  sail  and  awaited  the  enemy.  At  6  A.  M.,  August 
14th,  the  stranger  ranged  alongside  and  without  pre 
liminary  formalities  opened  with  her  starboard  battery, 
to  which  the  Argus  promptly  responded  with  her  port 
broadside.  The  action  began  at  grape  and  canister  dis 
tance,  which  range  was  rapidly  diminished  as  the  ves 
sels  drew  near  to  each  other.  In  about  four  minutes 
Master-Commandant  Allen's  left  leg  was  carried  away 
by  a  round  shot,  but  he  refused  to  be  taken  below, 
and  endeavored  to  give  his  orders  while  lying  on  the 
quarter-deck,  half  raising  himself  by  his  elbow.  But 
the  heroic  man  soon  fainted  from  loss  of  blood,  and 
at  6.08  A.  M.  was  carried  below.  By  this  time  the 
main  braces,  tnain  spring  stay,  gaff  and  trysail  mast 
of  the  Argus  were  shot  away,  and  at  6.12  A.  M.  her 
first  lieutenant,  William  H.  Watson,  received  a  grape- 
shot  wound  on  the  head  which  felled  him  to  the  deck, 
and  he  was  carried  below  unconscious.  The  com 
mand  then  devolved  upon  Lieutenant  William  Howard 
Allen  (Midshipmen  Richard  Delphy  and  W.  W.  Ed 
wards  having  been  killed  early  in  the  action),  who  con 
tinued  the  fight  with  great  skill  and  perseverance.  The 
Argus  had  now  lost  her  spritsail  yard  and  most  of  the 


1813.  THE  ARGUS-PELICAN   FIGHT.  525 

standing  rigging  on  the  port  side  of  the  foremast.  The 
enemy  at  6.14  A.  M.,  endeavored  to  cross  the  wake  of 
the  Argus  so  as  to  rake  ;  but  Lieutenant  Allen  adroit 
ly  evaded  the  manoeuvre  by  suddenly  throwing  all 
aback,  and  at  the  same  time  seized  his  opportunity  to 
sweep  his  antagonist  fore  and  aft  with  a  broadside, 
At  6.18  A.  M.  the  preventer  main  braces  and  maintop- 
sail  tie  of  the  American  brig  were  shot  away,  and 
while  she  was  deprived  of  the  use  of  her  after  sails 
the  English  again  attempted  to  rake  her.  This  time 
they  succeeded,  and  poured  in  a  full  broadside  ;  then, 
ranging  on  her  starboard  side,  they  opened  a  fresh 
battery. 

By  6.25  A.  M.  the  wheel  ropes  and  running  rigging 
of  every  description  had  been  shot  away,  leaving 
the  Argus  unmanageable ;  and,  taking  advantage  of 
this,  the  enemy  selected  his  position  and  soon  was 
pouring  in  broadsides  with  impunity.  At  this  crisis 
Lieutenant  Watson  recovered  consciousness  and  ap 
peared  on  deck,  only  to  find  that  the  Englishman  was 
having  it  all  his  own  way.  As  a  last  resort,  an  attempt 
was  made  to  board,  which  the  enemy  easily  frus 
trated.  But  the  Americans  still  refused  to  surrender, 
though  all  this  time  the  Argus  was  an  unresisting 
hulk.  After  enduring  the  Englishman's  cannonading 
for  fifteen  minutes  without  striking  a  blow  in  return, 
the  Argus,  at  6.47  A.  M.  struck  her  colors,  and  the 
enemy  then  boarded  over  her  bow.  The  victor  proved 
to  be  the  British  brig  Pelican,  Captain  John  Fordyce 
Maples.  On  the  12th  of  August  the  Pelican  had 
dropped  anchor  at  Queenstown,  but  being  informed 
that  an  American  brig  was  in  the  neighborhood  de 
stroying  British  shipping,  Captain  Maples  immediately 
got  under  way  and  sailed  in  search  of  her.  He  was 
guided  to  the  object  of  his  search  by  the  light  from  the 
burning  merchantman  from  Oporto. 

The  Pelican  mounted  sixteen  short  32-pounders, 
two  long  6-pounders,  one  short  12-pounder,  and  two 


526  THE  ACTIVE  NAVAL  WAR  OF   1813.  1813. 

short  6-pounders,  making  a  total  of  twenty-one  guns.1 
or  two  hundred  and  seventy-four  pounds  of  metal  to 
the  broadside.  The  Argus  was  built  in  Boston  by  Ed 
ward  Hart,  and  carried  eighteen  short  24-pounders  and 
two  long  12  pounders,  making  twenty  guns,2  and  two 
hundred  and  twelve  pounds  actual  weight  of  metal  to 
the  broadside.  This  gave  the  Pelican  a  superiority  of 
more  than  a  fourth.  In  1799,  under  the  command  of 
Captain  Searle,  the  Pelican  drove  the  French  frigate 
Media  into  Guadaloupe  after  an  action  of  two  hours. 
The  Argus  sailed  from  the  United  States  with  one  hun 
dred  and  fifty-seven  men,  but  this  number  had  been 
reduced  by  prize  crews  to  one  hundred  and  twenty-five. 
She  lost  six  killed  and  seventeen  wounded,3  among  the 
former  being  Midshipmen  Richard  Delphy  and  William 
W.  Edwards,  of  whose  gallantry  Lieutenant  Watson 
spoke  in  the  highest  terms.  Among  the  wounded  were 
Boatswain  M'Leod  and  Mr.  White,  the  carpenter.  The 
Pelican's  crew  is  given  at  one  hundred  and  sixteen,  of 
whom  two  were  killed  and  five  wounded. 

Comparative  force  and  loss. 

Guns.  Lbs.  Crew.        Killed.    Wounded.    Total. 

Argus:         20  212  125  6  17          23    )    Time 

Pelican:       21  274  116  2  5  7    \    47m. 

The  Argus  sustained  severe  injuries  in  her  hull, 
nearly  all  her  shrouds  were  shot  away,  and  both 
masts  were  greatly  damaged.  The  Pelican's  sides 
were  full  of  shot  that  did  not  penetrate  ;  her  sails  were 
much  torn,  and  several  spars  were  wounded.  Two 
shot  passed  through  the  boatswain's  and  carpenter's 
cabins,  and  two  of  her  carronades  were  dismounted. 
The  Argus  was  more  skillfully  handled  than  the  Brit 
ish  brig,  which  was  especially  noticeable  when  the 
former  threw  all  aback  and  not  only  prevented  the 

1  James'  History  of  the  British  Navy,  vol.  vi,  p.  79. 

2  Official  report  of  Captain  Manles. 

3  Official  report  of  Lieutenant  Watson. 


1813.  THE  ARGUS-PELICAN  FIGHT.  527 

Englishman  from  raking  but  turned  the  tables  by 
securing  a  raking  position  for  herself.  This  vast  dif 
ference  between  the  excellent  navigating  of  the  Argus 
and  her  poor  exhibition  of  gunnery  naturally  leads  to 
deeper  inquiry.  The  belief  that  some  extraordinary 
circumstance  must  have  been  the  cause  of  this  defi 
ciency  at  the  great  guns,  when  all  else  about  the  brig 
was  admirable,  is  confirmed  when  we  investigate  Will 
iam  Allen's  record  as  a  naval  officer.  In  gunnery  he 
was  deemed  specially  efficient,  and  for  his  thor 
oughness  in  this  particular  he  was  officially  noticed 
and  commended  by  his  superiors.  In  his  report  of  the 
action  between  the  United  States  and  the  Macedo 
nian,  Captain  Decatur  wrote:  " Where  all  met  my 
fullest  expectations,  it  would  be  unjust  in  me  to  dis 
criminate.  Permit  me,  however,  to  recommend  to 
your  particular  notice  my  first  lieutenant,  William 
H.  Allen.  He  has  served  with  me  upward  of  five 
years,  and  to  his  unremitted  exertions  in  disciplining 
the  crew  is  to  be  imputed  the  obvious  superiority  of 
our  gunnery  exhibited  in  the  results  of  this  combat." 
It  would  hardly  be  reasonable  to  suppose  that  William 
Allen,  in  his  first  independent  command— the  ambition 
of  every  officer — neglected  the  branch  of  discipline  to 
which  in  a  large  measure  he  owed  his  rapid  promo 
tion  ;  and  even  poor  gunnery,  with  so  broad  a  mark 
as  a  brig  not  twenty  yards  away,  should  have  been 
far  more  effective.  The  explanation  made  by  an 
officer  in  the  Argus  is  undoubtedly  the  true  solu 
tion  of  this  mystery.  "The  brig  [Argus]  having  ex 
pended  a  good  deal  of  her  powder,  Mr.  Allen  took  a 
quantity  on  board  from  a  prize  bound  to  South  Amer 
ica.  Shortly  after,  the  gunner  had  occasion  to  fill  a 
number  of  cylinders,  and  he  used  the  powder  of  the 
prize,  which  lay  uppermost  in  the  magazines.  It  was 
afterward  ascertained  that  this  powder  was  condemned 
powder  of  the  British  Government,  going  to  South 
America  to  be  sold.  In  proof  of  its  effects,  the  officer 


528  THE  ACTIVE  NAVAL  WAR  OF  1813.  1813. 

in  question  assured   us   that  the   Pelican's  side  was 
dotted  with  impressions  of  shots  that  did  not  enter." 

Having  taken  aboard  a  prize  crew,  the  Argus  made 
for  Plymouth,  where  she  arrived  on  the  16th  of  August. 
Master-Commandant  Allen  was  immediately  taken  to 
Mill  Prison  Hospital,  his  left  leg  having  been  ampu 
tated  above  the  knee  by  his  own  surgeon.  All  pos 
sible  attention  and  kindness  were  shown  to  him,  but  his 
life's  cruise  was  over,  and  on  the  18th  he  was  mercifully 
released  from  suffering.  On  the  21st  the  remains  were 
buried  with  the  highest  military  honors,  the  navy,  ma 
rine  and  army  officers  in  port  participating  in  the  sad 
rites.  An  English  paper  describes  the  burial  as  fol 
lows  :  ' '  The  procession  left  Mill  Prison  at  twelve 
o'clock.  The  coffin  was  covered  with  a  velvet  pall,  on 
which  was  spread  the  American  ensign  under  which 
the  action  was  fought.  Upon  this  the  hat  and  sword 
of  the  deceased  were  laid.  On  the  coffin  being  removed 
to  the  hearse  the  guards  saluted,  and  when  it  was  de 
posited  in  the  hearse  the  procession  moved  forward, 
the  band  playing  the  Dead  March  in  Saul.  On  arrival 
near  the  church  the  guards  clubbed  arms,  single  file  in 
ward,  through  which  the  procession  passed  to  the 
church.  The  corpse  was  now  carried  in  and  placed  in 
the  center  aisle,  where  the  funeral  service  was  read; 
after  which  the  body  was  interred  in  the  south  yard, 
on  the  right  of  Midshipman  Delphy,  of  the  Argus" 

William  Henry  Allen  was  a  disciplinarian  of  the 
highest  order.  He  had  a  noble  presence,  and  was  fear 
less  in  battle,  but  was  gentle  in  nature.  His  career  un 
der  Captain  Decatur,  especially  during  his  action  with 
the  Macedonian,  had  been  most  creditable.  An  Irish 
paper  contains  this  notice  of  him  :  "It  would  be  injus 
tice  not  to  notice  the  excellent  conduct  of  William 
Allen,  of  the  Argus.  He  allowed  the  passengers  and 
crews  of  the  Betsey  and  Mariner  to  remove  every  arti 
cle  of  their  private  property,  and,  in  order  that  they 
might  have  the  liberty  to  do  so,  he  would  not  suffer  one 


1813.  W.   H.   ALLEN  A   MODEL   OFFICER.  529 

of  Ms  officers  or  crew  to  be  present  below  while  they 
were  employed  in  packing  up  their  effects.  Captain 
Gilbert,  of  the  Mariner,  had  left  some  articles  of  cabin 
furniture  behind,  which  William  Allen  sent  after  him 
in  his  boat.  A  greatcoat  belonging  to  an  officer  of  one 
of  the  captured  ships  was  missing,  and  it  was  found  in 
the  possession  of  one  of  the  crew  of  the  Argus.  Will 
iam  Allen  immediately  ordered  the  man  to  be  tied  up, 
and  he  actually  received  a  severe  flogging.  Consider 
able  sums  in  specie  were  saved  by  the  passengers,  as 
William  Allen  would  not  allow  his  men  to  touch  a  sin 
gle  article."  The  British  Naval  Chronicle  says  :  "His 
death  was  conceived  to  be  chiefly  occasioned  by  the 
great  loss  of  blood  which  he  sustained  previous  to  am 
putation  by  his  persisting  in  remaining  on  deck  after 
he  was  wounded.  Throughout  the  whole  he  bore  his 
sufferings  with  that  manly,  determined  fortitude  and 
composure  which  might  be  expected  of  a  brave  and 
gallant  officer,  and  never  once  complained  of  pain  ;  but 
his  mind  constantly  dwelt  on  the  loss  of  his  ship,  which 
he  regretted  in  the  most  feeling  and  manly  manner.  In 
person  he  was  about  six  feet  high,  a  model  of  symmetry 
and  manly  comeliness,  and  in  his  manners  and  conver 
sation  a  highly  finished  and  accomplished  gentleman." 1 

1  William  Henry  Allen  was  born  in  Providence,  R.  I.,  October  21,  1784. 
His  father  was  an  officer  in  the  Revolution ;  his  mother  was  a  sister  of 
a  governor  of  the  State.  He  entered  the  navy  as  a  midshipman  April 
28,  1800,  and  made  his  first  cruise  in  the  George,  Washington,  then  com 
manded  by  Captain  Bainbridge.  His  second  cruise  was  in  the  Phila 
delphia,  Captain  Samuel  Barron,  and  his  third  was  in  the  John  Adams, 
Captain  John  Rodgers.  He  was  acting  lieutenant  in  1805,  when  in  the 
Constitution,  under  John  Rodgers,  and  he  was  third  lieutenant  in  the 
Chesapeake  in  1807,  when  that  ship  was  captured  by  the  Leopard.  The 
only  gun  fired  by  the  Americans  was  touched  off  by  a  live  coal  which 
Mr.  Allen  seized  from  the  galley  fire  with  his  fingers.  Lieutenant  Allen 
was  in  the  Chesapeake  when  she  was  commanded  by  Captain  Decatur,  and 
he  followed  that  officer  to  the  United  States  and  distinguished  himself 
during  the  action  between  that  frigate  and  the  Macedonian.  In  1813  he 
was  promoted  to  the  rank  of  master-commandant.  Allen  Street  in  New 
York  city  was  named  in  his  memory. 


530  THE  ACTIVE  NAVAL  WAR  OF   1813.  1813. 

When  war  seemed  imminent  with  Great  Britain 
Congress  caused  several  hundred  gunboats  to  be  con 
structed  for  coast  and  harbor  defense.  The  idea  of  the 
gunboat  system  seems  to  have  been  derived  from  the 
French.  About  two  thousand  of  these  craft  were  built 
at  Boulogne  when  Napoleon  contemplated  an  invasion 
of  England.  The  French  boats  were  sixty  feet  over  all, 
sixteen  feet  beam,  and  drew  about  two  and  a  half  feet 
of  water.  They  carried  a  24-  or  36-pounder  in  the  bow 
and  a  field  piece  in  the  stern,  and  each  boat  was  manned 
by  a  hundred  men  and  was  rowed  with  twenty-five  oars 
on  a  side.  The  first  gunboats  employed  in  the  United 
States  were  for  the  defense  of  the  Delaware,  1775-'76, 
and  they  succeeded  in  driving  the  British  frigate  Roe 
buck  out  of  the  river  ;  and  at  the  outbreak  of  the  War 
of  1812  there  were  two  hundred  and  fifty-seven  vessels 
of  this  class  stationed  in  our  rivers  and  harbors.  Al 
though  the  "gunboat  system"  of  naval  warfare  has 
been  shown  to  be  demoralizing  on  the  service  and  inef 
fective  when  opposed  to  improved  ordnance,  yet  these 
vessels  did  some  good  service  in  the  War  of  1812,  so 
that  a  brief  review  of  the  arguments  in  favor  of  this 
system  of  naval  warfare  may  be  interesting.  They  are : 

1.  Frigates  and  ships  of  the  line  are  too  heavy  to  act  in 
narrow  and  shoal  waters,  but  gunboats  are  movable 
batteries  that  are  capable  of  attacking  the  largest  ships. 

2.  A  gunboat  can  carry  as  heavy  metal  as  a  100-gun 
ship  of  the  line.     Thus  a  frigate  attacked  by  thirty- 
seven  gunboats  would  have  the  force  of  a  ship  of  the 
line  against  her.     3.  When  a  ship  fights  she  presents 
her  entire  broadside  as  a  target.     Thus  a  ship  of  forty 
guns  would  be  about  one  hundred  and  fifty  feet  long 
and  ten  feet  out  of  water,  presenting  fifteen  hundred 
square  feet  of  surface,  while  only  twenty  of  her  guns 
could  be  brought  to  bear.      A  gunboat   has   ten  feet 
beam  and  is  only  two  feet  out  of  water,  thus  present 
ing  only  twenty  square  feet  of  surface  when  in  action, 
as  a  gunboat  always  fires  with  her  bow  pointed  at  the 


1813.  THE  GUNBOAT  THEORY.  531 

enemy.  Thus  twenty  gunboats  carrying  twenty  guns 
present  an  aggregate  surface  of  four  hundred  square 
feet,  while  the  40-gun  frigate  exposes  fifteen  hundred 
square  feet,  and  brings  only  twenty  guns  to  bear.  4. 
If  a  shot  should  pass  an  inch  or  two  above  a  gunboat 
it  would  do  no  harm,  but  if  it  should  pass  above  the 
hull  of  a  frigate  it  might  carry  away  a  mast  or  injure 
the  rigging.  5.  The  two  most  serious  accidents  that  can 
happen  to  a  ship  are  the  loss  of  her  rudder  and  injuries 
to  her  sailing-gear.  Neither  of  these  accidents  can 
happen  to  a  gunboat,  as  she  is  not  dependent  on  masts, 
but  is  guided  and  propelled  by  sweeps.  6.  The  nearer 
the  gun  is  to  the  level  of  the  water  the  more  accurate 
the  aim  and  the  more  liable  to  strike  on  or  below  the 
water  line.  7.  As  the  gunboats  are  separated,  each  gun 
of  the  frigate  must  be  aimed  at  some  particular  gun 
boat,  which  presents  only  a  mark  of  twenty  square  feet, 
and  should  the  ball  miss  its  aim  by  an  inch  it  would 
pass  harmlessly  beyond.  On  the  other  hand,  all  the 
gunboats  can  aim  at  one  solid  mark  of  fifteen  hun 
dred  square  feet.  8.  A  36-gun  frigate  cost  three  hun 
dred  thousand  dollars.  Gunboats  cost  four  thousand 
dollars  each,  so  that  seventy-five  could  be  built  for 
three  hundred  thousand  dollars.  The  Constellation, 
for  instance,  would  have  only  twenty-five  guns  with 
which  to  oppose  seventy-five  of  the  heaviest  metal. 

On  the  18th  of  June  three  of  the  enemy's  frigates 
anchored  in  Hampton  Roads,  and  on  the  following  day 
fifteen  gunboats,  under  Master-Commandant  Joseph 
Tarbell,  moved  down  to  attack  them.  The  boats  ad 
vanced  in  two  divisions,  one  commanded  by  Lieutenant 
John  M.  Gardner  and  the  other  by  Lieutenant  Robert 
G.  Henley.  Approaching  the  frigates  in  the  night,  the 
gunboats  anchored  in  the  form  of  a  crescent,  and  at  4 
A.  M.  of  the  20th  they  opened  a  heavy  fire.  One  of  the 
many  serious  defects  of  the  gunboat  system  now  became 
apparent.  The  recoil  of  the  guns  caused  such  rocking 
that  it  not  only  prevented  accurate  firing,  but  even 


532  THE  ACTIVE  NAVAL   WAR  OF  1813.  1813. 

threatened  to  upset  the  boats.  The  first  ship  attacked, 
the  32-gun  frigate  Narcissus,  was  roughly  handled,  and 
had  she  not  been  rescued  by  her  consort,  the  38-gun 
frigate  Junon,  Captain  Saunders,  she  might  have  been 
destroyed  or  captured.  After  a  spirited  cannonade 
the  frigates  retired  and  the  boats  returned  up  the  river. 
Lieutenant  William  Branford  Shubrick  (who  was  in 
the  Hornet-Peacock  fight,  and  who  afterward  was  in 
the  Constitution  during  her  remarkable  engagement 
with  the  Cyane  and  Levant)  on  this  occasion  com 
manded  one  of  the  gunboats  nearest  to  the  enemy  and 
won  much  applause  by  the  style  in  which  he  covered 
the  retreat  and  drew  the  entire  fire  of  the  frigates  on 
his  boat.  The  loss  on  the  part  of  the  Americans  was 
Master's-Mate  Allison  killed  and  two  men  wounded. 
The  gunboat  commanded  by  Sailing-Mas ter  ISTantz  was 
so  crippled  as  to  be  in  danger  of  capture,  but  she  was 
taken  in  tow  by  the  boat  under  the  command  of  Lieu 
tenant  Shubrick  and  carried  out  of  danger. 

On  the  22d  of  June  the  enemy  made  a  boat  attack 
on  Craney  Island,  where  Captain  John  Cassin,  com 
mander  of  the  naval  forces  at  Norfolk,  had  stationed 
Lieutenants  B.  J.  Neale,  William  Branford  Shubrick 
and  James  Sanders  with  one  hundred  seamen  and  fifty 
marines,  mostly  from  the  Constellation,  under  Lieu 
tenant  H.  B.  Breckenridge,  and  it  was  largely  due  to 
their  coolness  and  effective  firing  that  the  British  were 
repelled.  One  of  their  barges,  fifty  feet  long,  painted 
green  and  named  the  Centipede,  commanded  by  Cap 
tain  Hanchett,  of  the  Diadem,  a  natural  son  of  George 
IV,  was  hulled  by  a  round  shot  that  passed  through 
her  diagonally  and  cut  off  the  legs  of  several  men. 
Captain  Hanchett  himself  received  a  severe  contusion 
of  the  thigh.  Under  the  direction  of  Midshipmen  Jo- 
siah  Tattnall  and  David  Geisinger  the  Centipede  was 
hauled  ashore  by  Midshipman  Bladen  Dulany  and  act 
ing  Sailing-Master  George  F.  De  la  Roche.  A  French 
man  was  found  in  the  barge  with  both  legs  taken  off. 


1813.  GUNBOAT  ACTIONS.  533 

He  was  carried  ashore  and  placed  in  a  hammock,  where 
he  soon  died.  A  Scotch  terrier  also  was  found  in  the 
boat.  In  all,  five  barges  were  sunk.  Forty  prisoners 
were  taken,  and  the  enemy's  loss  in  killed  or  wounded 
was  heavy.  The  officers  and  men  of  the  Constellation 
were  applauded  for  their  skillful  and  spirited  defense. 

On  the  29th  of  July,  1813,  Master-Commandant  An 
gus,  who  commanded  a  flotilla  of  gunboats  in  the  Dela 
ware,  learned  that  the  English  16-gun  sloop  of  war 
Martin  had  rounded  the  Cape,  and  while  he  was  recon- 
noitering  the  British  38-gun  frigate  Junon  also  came 
to  and  anchored  within  supporting  distance  of  the 
sloop.  Samuel  Angus,  with  eight  gunboats  and  two 
sloops,  advanced  to  the  attack  and  opened  a  spirited 
cannonade.  Unfortunately,  gunboat  No.  121,  com 
manded  by  Sailing- Master  William  W.  Sheed,  in  spite 
of  every  exertion  of  her  crew,  drifted  more  than  a  mile 
beyond  her  consorts.  Seeing  this,  the  enemy  sent  eight 
boats  against  her  with  a  strong  party  of  men.  Mr. 
Shead  anchored  and  fired  two  shot  at  the  enemy,  but 
in  doing  so  disabled  his  only  gun.  The  English  then 
carried  the  gunboat  by  storm,  but  they  sustained  a  loss 
of  seven  killed  and  twelve  wounded.  The  American 
loss  was  seven  wounded. 

While  the  United  States  and  the  Macedonian  were 
blockaded  at  New  London  two  boats  were  sent  out 
from  each  of  these  frigates,  under  the  command  of 
Lieutenant  John  Gallagher,  to  make  an  excursion  into 
Long  Island  Sound.  In  the  night,  a  small  boat  com 
manded  by  Midshipman  Abraham  S.  Ten  Eyck  was 
separated  from  the  others  and  was  driven  upon  Gar 
diner's  Island.  As  morning  broke,  the  Americans,  find 
ing  themselves  under  the  guns  of  the  British  frigate 
Ramillies,  landed  and  concealed  themselves  on  shore. 
Soon  afterward  a  boat  came  ashore  from  the  British 
ship  and  a  number  of  officers  and  seamen  went  to  a 
house  near  by.  Mr.  Ten  Eyck  approached  the  house 
and  made  prisoners  of  two  lieutenants,  one  midship- 


534:  THE   ACTIVE   NA~VAL    WAR   OP   1813.  1813. 

man,  one  master's  mate  and  five  seamen.  Finding  that 
they  were  discovered  by  the  people  in  the  frigate,  he 
released  his  prisoners  on  parole  and  made  his  escape 
with  his  men  to  Long  Island,  whence,  on  the  following 
night,  they  were  taken  off  by  the  other  boats. 

About  this  time  several  attempts  at  submarine  war 
fare  were  made.  As  the  Navy  Department  refused 
to  adopt  this  method,  these  experiments  were  under 
taken  by  private  individuals.  In  June,  1813,  John 
Scudder  fitted  up  the  trading  schooner  Eagle  as  a 
floating  mine,  which  was  temptingly  covered  with 
naval  stores.  This  boat,  as  it  was  expected,  was  cap 
tured  by  the  Ramillies  while  attempting  to  run 
through  the  British  blockading  squadron,  her  crew 
escaping  to  the  shore.  Soon  after  the  enemy  boarded 
the  mine  was  ignited  by  clockwork  and  blew  up  a 
British  lieutenant  and  ten  men.  Subsequently  a 
citizen  of  Norwich,  Conn.,  invented  a  submarine 
boat  by  which  he  passed  under  the  Ramillies  three 
times,  and  nearly  succeeded  in  blowing  her  up.  Cap 
tain  Hardy,  of  the  Ramillies,  became  so  alarmed  that 
he  caused  a  cable  to  be  passed  under  his  ship  every 
two  hours,  and  finally  he  threatened  to  burn  all  towns 
on  the  sound  if  the  Americans  persisted  in  this  dis 
agreeable  method  of  warfare.  Mr.  Mix,  of  the  navy, 
also  nearly  succeeded  in  destroying  the  British  74-gun 
ship  Plantagenet  off  Cape  Henry,  Virginia,  by  carrying 
out  a  torpedo  in  an  open  boat  called  the  Chesapeake 
Avenger,  under  cover  of  night,  and  casting  it  off  so  it 
would  float  down  on  the  enemy.  The  machine  exploded 
a  few  seconds  too  soon,  but  near  enough  to  cause  the 
Plantagenet  to  roll  heavily  into  the  chasm  and  nearly 
upset. 

In  the  earlier  part  of  the  war  the  Enterprise,  Mas 
ter-Commandant  Johnston  Blakeley,  the  little  12-gun 
schooner  that  figured  so  prominently  during  the  French 
and  Tripolitan  wars,  had  been  employed  on  the  coast 
of  Maine  to  protect  the  local  trade  against  privateers 


1813.  THE  ACTION  OFF   MONHEGAN.  535 

that  were  sent  out  from  neighboring  English  ports. 
In  August,  1813,  she  captured  a  privateer  named  the 
Fly,  and  soon  afterward  Master-Commandant  Blakeley 
was  transferred  to  the  new  Wasp,  while  Lieutenant 
William  Burrows  was  placed  in  charge  of  the  Enter 
prise.  On  the  1st  of  September  Lieutenant  Burrows 
sailed  from  Portsmouth,  and  on  the  3d  he  gave  chase 
to  a  schooner.  On  the  4th  he  stood  out  to  sea  in  quest 
of  several  privateers  that  had  been  reported  in  the  vi 
cinity  of  Monhegan,  and  while  he  was  nearing  Penguin 
Point  on  the  following  morning  a  brig  was  discovered 
getting  under  way.  The  stranger  was  soon  made  out 
to  be  a  British  brig  of  war,  upon  which  Lieutenant 
Burrows  cleared  for  action.  It  was  then  about  noon, 
and  a  fresh  breeze  from  the  southwest  gave  the  vessels 
an  opportunity  to  close.  The  Enterprise  displayed 
three  flags  and  stood  out  to  sea,  while  the  enemy  fired 
several  guns  by  way  of  a  challenge,  and,  hoisting  four 
ensigns,  followed  her. 

At  this  moment  occurred  an  episode  that  reveals 
the  spirit  of  the  American  seamen  of  that  day.  While 
the  two  vessels  were  standing  out  so  as  to  clear  the 
land,  Lieutenant  Burrows  ordered  a  long  gun  to  be 
run  out  of  one  of  the  stern  ports.  This  made  it  neces 
sary  to  cut  away  some  timbers,  and  the  men,  who 
were  as  yet  unacquainted  with  their  commander,  got 
the  impression  that  he  was  endeavoring  to  evade  the 
enemy.  As  they  were  burning  with  impatience  to 
engage,  they  requested  the  young  officer  in  command 
of  the  forecastle — Midshipman  John  H.  Aulick,  after 
ward  captain — to  go  aft  and  express  to  their  com 
mander  the  desire  of  the  crew  to  fight.  That  officer 
so  far  complied  as  to  speak  privately  to  First-Lieu 
tenant  Edward  Rutley  McCall,  who  assured  the  men 
that  Lieutenant  Burrows  had  no  intention  of  avoid 
ing  an  engagement.  The  answer  was  satisfactory, 
and  the  crew  awaited  the  contest  with  renewed  eager 
ness. 

37 


536  THE  ACTIVE  NAVAL   WAR  OF  1813.  1813. 

At  3  P.  M.  the  Enterprise  shortened  sail  and  awaited 
her  antagonist.  At  3.20  P.  M.  the  brigs  were  within  half 
pistol-shot,  and  the  battle  began,  the  Enterprise  using 
her  port  battery  and  the  enemy  his  starboard.  At  the 
first  broadside,  while  Lieutenant  Burrows  was  assisting 
his  men  in  running  out  a  carronade,  he  was  mortally 
wounded  by  a  musket  ball,  but  he  refused  to  be  car 
ried  below,  requesting  that  the  Hag  might  not  be 
struck.  The  Enterprise  soon  drew  ahead  and  crossed 
her  antagonist's  course,  and  in  doing  so  managed  to 
get  in  one  or  two  raking  shot  from  the  long  gun  that 
had  been  run  out  of  the  stern  port.  The  combat 
ants  now  changed  batteries,  the  Americans  using  their 
starboard  and  the  English  their  port  guns,  the  two 
vessels  running  along  side  by  side,  the  Enterprise 
keeping  just  off  the  enemy's  bow.  By  3.30  p.  M.  the 
Englishman  had  lost  his  main  topmast  and  fore  top 
sail  yard.  Lieutenant  McCall,  who  had  succeeded  to 
the  command  of  the  ship,  now  set  his  foresail,  ran 
around  on  the  enemy's  bow,  and  poured  in  several 
raking  fires,  which,  at  4  p.  M.,  compelled  the  English 
man  to  call  for  quarter,  saying  that  his  colors  were 
nailed  to  the  mast  and  could  not  be  hauled  down. 
The  prize  was  the  British  brig  Boxer,  Captain  Samuel 
Blythe,  who  was  killed  at  the  first  broadside  by  an 
18-pound  shot  through  his  abdomen.  When  the  Brit 
ish  commander's  sword  was  placed  in  the  hands  of  the 
dying  Burrows,  he  exclaimed,  "I  am  satisfied,  I  die 
content,"  and  a  few  minutes  later  he  breathed  his  last. 

The  Enterprise  mounted  fourteen  short  18-pound- 
ers  and  two  long  9-pounders,  making  sixteen  guns 
and  one  hundred  and  twenty-five  actual  pounds  of 
metal  to  the  broadside.  Out  of  the  crew  of  one  hun 
dred  and  two1  she  lost  Lieutenant  Burrows  and  one 
seaman,  killed ;  Midshipman  Kirven  Waters  and  the 
carpenter's  mate,  mortally  wounded ;  and  eight  men 

1  Emmons'  Statistical  History  of  the  United  States  Navy,  p.  56. 


1813.          THE  ENTERPRISE  CAPTURES  THE  BOXER.  537 

seriously  injured.1  English  accounts  give  the  Boxer 
twelve  short  18-pounders  and  two  long  6-pounders,  in 
all  fourteen  guns,2  with  one  hundred  and  fourteen 
pounds  of  metal  to  the  broadside.  Her  crew  has  been 
variously  estimated  from  seventy  to  one  hundred. 
Captain  Hull  visited  the  Boxer  shortly  after  the  en 
gagement,  and  wrote:  "I  yesterday  visited  the  two 
brigs.  We  find  it  impossible  to  get  at  the  number 
of  killed  ;  no  papers  are  found  by  which  we  can  ascer 
tain  it.  I,  however,  counted  upward  of  ninety  ham 
mocks,  which  were  in  her  nettings,  with  beds  in  them, 
besides  several  beds  without  hammocks  ;  and  she  has 
excellent  accommodations  for  all  her  officers  below  in 
the  staterooms ;  so  that  I  have  no  doubt  that  she  had 
one  hundred  men  on  board."3  She  lost  four  killed  and 
seventeen  wounded.4 

Comparative  force  and  loss. 

Guns.         Lbs.         Crew.      Killed.    Wounded.  Total. 

Enterprise:      16         125        102         2  10        12    )    Time 

Boxer :  14         114  70-100          4  17        21    f  40  m. 

This  battle  again  illustrates  the  overweening  con 
fidence  of  the  British  commander  at  this  period.  For 
several  days  before  the  Boxer  sailed  from  St.  Johns 
the  English  made  every  exertion  to  fit  her  out  with 
a  view  of  meeting  the  Enterprise.  Captain  Blythe 
knew  his  antagonist  to  be  the  Enterprise  before  he 
closed,  and  he  also  was  familiar  with  her  force,  yet  the 
fact  of  his  nailing  his  flag  to  the  mast  and  the  eager 
ness  with  which  he  sought  the  engagement  show  his 
confidence  in  the  result  of  the  battle.  The  result  of 
the  Chesapeake- Shannon  fight  led  British  naval  offi 
cers  to  believe  that  it  was  only  necessary  for  them  to 

1  Official  report  of  Lieutenant  McCall. 

2  James'  History  of  the  British  Navy,  vol.  vi,  p.  75. 

3  Extract  of  a  letter  from  Captain  Hull  to  Captain  Bainbridge,  Sep 
tember  10,  1813. 

4  James'  History  of  the  British  Navy,  vol.  vi,  p.  76. 


538  THE   ACTIVE  NAVAL   WAH  OF  1813.  1813. 

get  fairly  alongside  in  order  to  secure  victory.  Blythe 
was  at  Halifax  when  Captain  Broke  arrived  there  with 
the  Chesapeake,  and  evidently  he  was  imbued  with  this 
idea  when  he  sighted  the  Enterprise.  At  the  time 
the  Americans  hailed  to  ascertain  if  the  Boxer  had 
struck,  one  of  the  British  officers  jumped  upon  a  gun, 
and,  shaking  both  fists  at  the  Americans,  cried  out, 
"JSTo,  no,  no!"  with  several  strong  adjectives  inter 
jected.  To  those  in  the  Enterprise  the  spectacle  would 
have  been  ludicrous,  had  it  not  been  for  the  pitiful 
condition  to  which  their  enemy  was  reduced.  The 
officer  in  question  evidently  was  animated  with  that 
pseudo  heroism  which  possessed  Lieutenant  Hope,  of 
the  Macedonian,  when  he  advised  Captain  Garden  to 
sink  with  his  ship  rather  than  surrender,  well  knowing 
that  his  advice  wrould  not  be  followed ;  or  like  the 
crew  of  the  Java,  who,  after  their  ship  had  been  re 
duced  to  a  helpless  wreck,  tacked  an  ensign  to  the 
stump  of  their  mizzenmast  when  the  Constitution 
was  out  of  gunshot  repairing  damages,  so  that  they 
could  report  to  the  Lords  of  the  Admiralty,  ' '  We 
still  awaited  the  attack  of  the  enemy."  The  officer  of 
the  Boxer  was  promptly  ordered  down  by  a  lieuten 
ant.  Congress  voted  a  gold  medal  to  the  nearest  male 
relative  of  Lieutenant  Burrows,  and  a  silver  one  to 
each  of  his  commissioned  officers.  Lieutenant  McCall, 
in  his  official  report,  commended  the  bravery  and 
steadiness  of  his  officers,  and  especially  the  gallantry 
of  Second-Lieutenant  T.  G.  Tillinghast. 

No  vessels  better  matched  than  the  Enterprise  and 
the  Boxer  were  could  have  met,  yet  the  difference  in 
the  damage  sustained  by  them  was  extraordinary. 
Captain  Hull  said :  "I  was  astonished  to  see  the  dif 
ference  of  injury  sustained  in  the  action.  The  Enter 
prise  has  but  one  18-pound  shot  in  her  hull,  and  one 
in  her  mainmast ;  her  sails  are  much  cut  with  grape- 
shot,  and  there  are  a  great  number  of  grape  lodged  in 
her  sides,  but  no  injury  done  by  them.  The  Boxer 


1813.  INJURIES  OF  THE  BOXER.  539 

has  eighteen  or  twenty  18-pound  shot  in  her  hull,  most 
of  them  at  the  water's  edge,  several  stands  of  18-pound 
grape  stick  in  her  sides,  and  such  a  quantity  of  small 
grape  that  I  did  not  undertake  to  count  them.  Her 
masts  and  spars  are  literally  cut  to  pieces,  several  of 
the  guns  dismounted  and  unfit  for  service ;  her  top 
gallant  forecastle  nearly  taken  off  by  the  shot,  her 
boats  cut  to  pieces  and  her  quarters  injured  in  pro 
portion.  To  give  you  an  idea  of  the  quantity  of  shot 
about  her,  I  inform  you  that  I  counted  in  her  main 
mast  alone  three  18-pound-shot  holes,  eighteen  large 
grapeshot  holes,  sixteen  musket-shot  holes,  and  a 
large  number  of  smaller  shot  holes,  without  counting 
above  the  catharpins."  One  of  the  causes  assigned 
by  the  British  court-martial  convened  to  try  the  sur 
viving  officers  of  the  Boxer  for  the  loss  of  their  ship, 
was  the  "greater  degree  of  skill  in  the  direction 
of  her  [the  Enterprise's]  fire."  The  London  Times  of 
October  22,  1813,  says  :  "  But  what  we  regret  to  per 
ceive  stated,  and  trust  will  be  found  much  exagger 
ated,  is,  that  the  Boxer  was  literally  cut  to  pieces  in 
sails,  rigging,  spars  and  hull ;  whilst  the  Enterprise 
(her  antagonist)  was  in  a  situation  to  commence  a 
similar  action  immediately  afterward.  The  fact  seems 
to  be  but  too  clearly  established  that  the  Americans 
have  some  superior  mode  of  firing  ;  and  we  can  not  be 
too  anxiously  employed  in  discerning  to  what  circum 
stances  that  superority  is  owing." 

The  two  vessels  were  brought  into  Portland  on  the 
7th  of  September,  and  were  moored  at  the  end  of 
Union  wharf.  The  coffins  containing  the  bodies  were 
placed  in  ten- oared  barges  draped  in  black,  and  amid 
the  booming  of  minute  guns  they  were  rowed  to  minute 
strokes  by  ship's  masters  and  mates  to  the  shore.  A 
procession  was  formed  at  the  landing-place  and  moved 
up  Fore  and  Pleasant  Streets  to  High  Street,  and  then 
down  Main  and  Middle  Streets  to  the  Rev.  Mr.  Payne's 
meetinghouse,  where  public  services  were  held.  The 


540 


THE   ACTIVE   NAVAL  WAR   OF   1813. 


1813. 


remains  were  then  buried  side  by  side  in  the  Eastern 
Cemetery.  Lieutenant  Burrows  had  never  before  seen 
a  naval  battle.  Captain  Blythe  had  distinguished 
himself  in  the  conquest  of  Cayenne,  and  was  honored 
by  the  Prince  Regent  with  a  memorial  for  his  gal 
lantry.  He  had  also  been  one  of  the  pallbearers  when 
Captain  Lawrence  was  buried  in  Halifax,  three  months 
before.  Thus  in  1813  the  American  people  lost  three 
naval  commanders  in  quick  succession,  Lawrence,  Allen 

and  Burrows.  A 
few  years  after 
Lieutenant  Bur 
rows'  death,  Mat 
thew  L.  Davis,  of 
New  York,  hap 
pened  to  be  walk 
ing  through  the 
graveyard  in  Port- 


Graves  of  Burrows  and  Blythe. 


land  when  his  at 
tention  was  at 
tracted  to  the  neglected  grave  of  this  gallant  officer, 
and  he  immediately  caused  a  handsome  tombstone  to 
be  erected. 

"  The  flag  worn  by  the  Enterprise  in  this  action,  and 
afterward  used  as  the  pall  which  covered  the  body 
of  Captain  Burrows  at  his  funeral,  "  had  fifteen  stripes 
and  fifteen  stars,  the  latter  arranged  in  parallel  lines." 
This  flag,  which  was  old  on  the  day  of  the  engagement, 
and  patched  with  a  still  older  one,  is  now  in  the  pos 
session  of  H.  Gf.  Quincy,  of  Portland,  and  was  exhib 
ited  at  the  Massachusetts  Mechanics'  Charitable  Fair, 
in  Boston,  October,  1873.  After  the  action  it  bore  the 
marks  of  fifty-nine  shot  holes,  chiefly  musketry.1  It  is 
now  in  the  Naval  Institute  Building  at  Annapolis.2 

1  Treble's  History  of  the  United  States  Flag,  p.  327. 

2  William  Burrows  was  born  in  Kinderton,  near  Philadelphia,  October 
6,  1785.     In  early  life  he   evinced  that  reserve  which  in  later  years  de 
veloped  into  a  strong  aversion  for  society.     He  seemed  to  aspire  to  an  in- 


1813.  WILLIAM  BURROWS. 

On  the  4th  of  December,  1813,  Captain  Rodgers,  in 
the  President,  sailed  from  Providence  on  his  fourth 
cruise  against  the  enemy.  Making  Barbadoes,  he 
cruised  in  that  vicinity  until  the  16th  of  January, 
when  he  ran  down  to  Surinam  and  Berbice  and  between 
the  islands  of  Tobago  and  Grenada.  Striking  north 
from  this  point  through  the  Caribbean  Sea,  he  went 
through  the  Mona  Passage,  and  on  the  18th  of  Febru 
ary,  1814,  arrived  at  New  York.  The  President 
entered  the  harbor  during  the  night,  and  while  she  was 
waiting  for  the  tide,  the  British  38-gun  frigate  Loire 
approached,  but  on  ascertaining  the  President' *s  force 
drew  oif.  During  this  cruise  of  seventy -six  days  the 
President  captured  four  merchantmen. 

dependence  of  mind,  to  scorn  the  old  fashion  of  life,  and,  depending 
entirely  on  his  own  resources,  to  strike  out  into  original  methods  and 
new  expedients.  As  he  showed  a  decided  inclination  for  the  sea,  a  midship 
man's  warrant  was  secured  for  him,  and  in  1799  he  made  his  first  cruise 
in  the  sloop  of  war  Portsmouth,  Captain  M'Neal.  In  1803  he  was  under 
Captain  Preble  in  the  Constitution,  and  in  this  frigate  he  was  made  acting 
lieutenant  for  his  efficient  services  in  the  Tripolitan  war.  Returning  to 
the  United  States  in  1807,  he  was  employed  in  various  capacities.  While 
in  the  Hornet  as  first  lieutenant,  he  so  distinguished  himself  by  his  skill 
ful  seamanship,  during  a  violent  gale,  that  the  officers  attributed  the 
preservation  of  the  sloop  entirely  to  his  presence  of  mind  and  ability. 
Feeling  that  he  had  been  unjustly  outranked  by  some  junior  officers 
whom  he  had  commanded  in  the  Tripolitan  war,  Lieutenant  Burrows 
resigned  from  the  service.  This  was  not  accepted,  but  after  some  diffi 
culty  he  obtained  a  furlough.  He  then  sailed  as  first  mate  in  a  mer 
chantman  for  Canton.  On  the  return  voyage  this  vessel,  the  Thomas 
Penrose,  was  captured  by  a  British  ship  and  the  officers  were  made 
prisoners,  but  Lieutenant  Burrows  was  permitted  to  return  home  on 
parole.  Being  exchanged  soon  afterward,  he  was  appointed  to  the  com 
mand  of  the  Enterprise,  and  from  this  period  we  have  followed  his  career 
in  the  text. 


CHAPTEK  XI. 
CAPTAIN  PORTER'S  CRUISE  IN  THE  PACIFIC. 

IN  keeping  with  the  Government's  policy  of  send 
ing  light  squadrons  into  distant  seas,  to  draw  Brit 
ish  cruisers  from  the  American  coast  in  pursuit,  the 
82-gun  frigate  Essex,  Captain  David  Porter,  sailed 
from  the  Delaware  on  the  28th  of  October,  1812,  to 
join  the  Constitution  and  the  Hornet  on  a  cruise  in 
the  Indian  Ocean.  In  anticipation  of  an  extended 
voyage  Captain  Porter  shipped  an  unusually  large 
complement  of  officers  and  seamen,  among  the  mid 
shipmen  being  David  Glasgow  Farragut,  then  only 
eleven  years  old.  The  Essex  was  the  smallest  frigate 
in  the  navy.  She  had  been  built,  in  1799,  by  the 
citizens  of  Salem,  Mass.,  then  a  town  of  only  a  few 
thousand  inhabitants,  and  wras  given  to  the  Govern 
ment  for  the  purpose  of  protecting  American  com 
merce  from  the  depredations  of  the  French  and  Eng 
lish.  The  Salem  Gazette  for  October  26,  1798,  contains 
the  following  notice:  "At  a  meeting  in  the  court 
house  in  this  town,  on  Tuesday  evening  last,  of  those 
gentlemen  who  have  subscribed  to  build  a  ship  for  the 
service  of  the  United  States,  it  was  voted  unanimously 
to  build  a  frigate  of  thirty- two  guns."  During  the 
winter  of  1798-'99  the  streets  of  Salem  were  enlivened 
with  teams  and  sleds  drawing  timber,  principally 
white  oak,  from  Danvers,  Topsfield,  Boxford  and 
Andover  to  Winter  Island,  the  site  selected  for  build 
ing  the  ship.  Eear- Admiral  George  H.  Preble,  of  the 
United  States  navy,  in  a  paper  read  before  the  Essex 
Historical  Institute,  said :  ' '  The  Federalists  considered 

(542) 


1812.  BUILDING  THE  ESSEX.  543 

it  a  patriotic  duty  to  cut  down  the  finest  sticks  of 
their  wood  lots  to  help  build  the  ' noble  structure' 
which  was  to  chastise  French  insolence  and  piracy." 
The  keel  was  laid  April  13,  1799,  and  on  the  30th  of 
the  following  September  thousands  of  men,  women, 
and  children  assembled  to  witness  the  launch.  The 
new  frigate  was  gayly  bedecked  with  flags  and  stream 
ers,  and  as  she  went  into  the  water  "  with  a  most  easy 
and  graceful  motion"  the  people  gave  three  cheers, 
her  guns,  which  had  been  landed  and  formed  in  a 
battery  near  by,  thundered  out  a  salute,  and  the  hills 
of  Essex  County  (for  which  the  frigate  was  named) 
greeted  their  offspring  with  echoing  applause.  The 
newborn  frigate  sailed  for  the  Indian  Ocean  in  De 
cember,  1799,  and  she  was  the  first  United  States  war 
vessel  to  double  the  Cape  of  Good  Hope.  Afterward 
she  took  part  in  the  naval  operations  in  the  Mediter 
ranean.  Her  services  at  the  outbreak  of  the  War  of 
1812  have  been  recorded  in  preceding  pages. 

After  clearing  the  Capes  of  the  Delaware,  Captain 
Porter  sailed  due  east  with  the  intention  of  getting  in 
the  track  of  British  merchantmen.  But  nothing  was 
seen  of  the  enemy's  ships,  and  on  the  27th  of  Novem 
ber  he  anchored  at  Port  Praya,  the  first  rendezvous 
appointed  by  Captain  Bainbridge.  Although  Portu 
gal  at  this  time  was  an  ally  of  Great  Britain,  the 
Portuguese  governor  of  this  island  treated  the  Ameri 
cans  with  every  civility,  and  cheerfully  furnished  such 
supplies  as  he  possessed.  Wishing  to  conceal  the  desti 
nation  of  the  Essex,  Captain  Porter,  on  leaving  this 
place,  stood  southeast,  so  as  to  create  the  belief  that 
he  was  bound  for  the  coast  of  Africa  ;  but  when  he 
was  out  of  sight  of  land  he  changed  his  course  to 
south-southwest,  so  as  to  make  Fernando  de  No- 
ronha,  the  second  place  at  which  he  was  to  meet  the 
Constitution  and  the  Hornet.  On  the  llth  of  Decem 
ber  the  Essex  crossed  the  equator  in  longitude  30° 
west,  and  at  two  o'clock  in  the  afternoon  of  the  follow- 


544       CAPTAIN  PORTER'S  CRUISE  IN   THE  PACIFIC.       1812. 

ing  day  she  discovered  a  sail  to  windward,  which  had 
the  appearance  of  a  vessel  of  war.  With  a  view  of 
decoying  the  stranger  under  his  guns,  Captain  Porter 


-a  SANDWICH  IS. 
" 


if  y^ST.  CATHERINE  I. 

iCoquimbo     ff I 
"^      > Valparaiso  J  •' 
Concepcion-'f 
MOCHA 


»  J^TERRA  DEL  Fl 

\          V^j'STATEN  I. 
\  ",'CAPE  HORN 


Cruise  o/  the  Essex. 

displayed  the  British  signals  that  he  had  captured  in 
his  previous  cruise,  but  they  were  ineffectual,  and  he 
made  all  sail  in  chase.  About  4  P.  M.  the  stranger, 
which  was  now  seen  to  be  a  brig  of  war,  made  signals, 
but  as  they  were  not  recognized  they  only  increased 
the  desire  of  the  Americans  to  close  before  night 
should  enable  the  brig  to  escape.  By  sunset  the 
chase  showed  English  colors,  and  a  few  minutes  after 
ward  she  displayed  night  signals.  Paying  no  atten 
tion  to  these,  the  Essex  kept  on  her  course,  bowling 
along  at  the  rate  of  eight  knots  an  hour.  This  thor 
oughly  alarmed  the  people  in  the  brig,  and  they  could 
be  seen  bending  studding  sails  and  throwing  overboard 
anchors,  boats  and  other  heavy  articles.  At  this  time 
the  vessels  were  about  two  miles  apart,  just  distin 
guishable  in  the  deepening  gloom  ;  each  had  every 


1812.  CAPTURE  OF  THE   NOCTON.  545 

stitch  of  canvas  set,  besides  resorting  to  extreme  meas 
ures  for  increasing  speed.  By  8  P.  M.  the  Essex  was 
perceptibly  getting  the  better  of  the  race,  for  now  her 
bow  chasers  were  within  gunshot ;  but  Captain  Porter, 
being  anxious  to  injure  the  brig  as  little  as  possible, 
did  not  open  fire,  and  by  9  P.  M.  he  came  within  mus 
ket  shot,  and  a  few  minutes  later  ran  alongside,  when 
he  hailed  and  ordered  her  to  heave  to.  The  chase, 
instead  of  obeying,  gave  a  sudden  yaw,  and  endeav 
ored  to  run  under  the  Essetfs  stern,  so  as  to  rake,  hop 
ing  to  make  her  escape  in  the  night  before  the  frigate 
could  sufficiently  recover  from  the  confusion  to  pur 
sue  her,  but  this  attempt  was  frustrated  by  Captain 
Porter,  who  quickly  brought  his  ship  around,  and,  lay 
ing  the  enemy  abeam,  poured  in  a  volley  of  musketry, 
upon  which  the  brig  struck,  having  lost  one  man 
killed.  She  proved  to  be  the  British  packet  Nocton, 
bound  for  Falmouth,  carrying  ten  guns  and  thirty-one 
men.  On  the  following  day  the  prisoners,  with  a 
quantity  of  specie  found  aboard,  which  amounted  to 
about  fifty-five  thousand  dollars,  were  transferred  to 
the  Essex,  while  Midshipman  William  Finch  (after 
ward  Captain  Bolton),  with  sixteen  men,  was  placed 
in  charge  of  the  prize  and  instructed  to  make  for  the 
nearest  American  port.  In  carrying  out  this  order 
Mr.  Finch  had  proceeded  as  far  as  Bermuda,  when  he 
was  overtaken  by  a  violent  gale,  and  as  the  weather 
cleared  up  he  discovered  a  British  frigate  to  wind 
ward.  The  Nocton  was  put  on  different  points  of  sail 
ing,  but  she  rapidly  lost  ground,  and  finally,  as  a  last 
resort,  she  was  put  before  the  wind.  In  spite  of  all 
efforts,  however,  the  stranger,  which  proved  to  be  the 
Belmdera,  soon  overhauled  her,  and  running  close  on 
the  Noctorts  quarter  prepared  to  pour  in  a  broadside. 
Mr.  Finch  thereupon  surrendered. 

Meantime  the  Essex  continued  her  course  south 
ward,  and  on  the  14th  of  December  the  mountainous 
peak  of  the  penal  island  of  Fernando  de  JNToronha  tow- 


546        CAPTAIN  PORTER'S  CRUISE   IN  THE   PACIFIC.      1812. 

ered  sullenly  out  of  the  dreary  waste  of  water.  In 
keeping  with  his  policy  of  concealing  the  movements 
of  the  Essex,  Captain  Porter  did  not  enter  the  port,  but 
disguised  his  ship  as  a  merchantman  and  lay  to  off  the 
entrance  of  the  harbor,  while  Lieutenant  John  Downes 
went  ashore  to  inform  the  Governor  that  the  ship  in 
the  offing  was  the  British  merchantman  Fanny,  Cap 
tain  Johnson,  from  London.  In  a  few  hours  Lieutenant 
Downes  returned  with  the  information  that  the  British 
44-gun  frigate  Acasta  and  the  20-gun  sloop  of  war  Mor- 
giana  had  stopped  at  the  port  only  the  week  before, 
and  had  left  a  letter  with  the  Governor  addressed  to 
Sir  James  Yeo,  of  the  British  32-gun  frigate  Southamp 
ton.  Captain  Porter  was  satisfied  that  the  alleged 
"Acasta"  and  "JHbrgiana"  were  none  other  than  the 
Constitution  and  the  Hornet,  and  as  he  had  been  in 
structed  to  appear  as  Sir  James  Yeo,  of  the  32-gun  frig 
ate  Southampton,  he  felt  sure  that  the  letter  was  in 
tended  for  him,  and  sending  Lieutenant  Downes  ashore 
with  a  present  of  porter  and  cheese  to  the  Governor,  he 
assured  that  magistrate  that  he  was  sailing  for  Rio  de 
Janeiro  and  would  forward  the  letter  to  England.  The 
Governor  sent  the  letter  aboard  the  Essex,  and  on 
breaking  it  open  Captain  Porter  read  the  following : 
4 'My  dear  Mediterranean  friend,  probably  you  may 
stop  here.  Don't  attempt  to  water  ;  it  is  attended  with 
too  much  difficulty.  I  learned  before  I  left  England 
that  you  were  bound  to  the  Brazil  coast ;  if  so,  we  may 
meet  at  Bahia  or  Rio  de  Janeiro.  I  should  be  happy 
to  meet  and  converse  on  our  old  affairs  of  captivity. 
Recollect  our  secret  in  those  times.  Your  friend  of 
His  Majesty's  ship  Acasta,  Kerr."  Captain  Porter  and 
Captain  Bainbridge  had  been  prisoners  together  in  Trip 
oli,  and  the  reference  to  "  Mediterranean  "  and  "  cap 
tivity  "gave  Porter  the  hint.  He  called  for  a  candle 
and  held  the  letter  to  the  flame,  when  the  following  in 
structions  written  in  sympathetic  ink  became  legible  : 
"  I  am  bound  off  Bahia,  thence  off  Cape  Frio,  where  I 


1812.  ON   TO  THE  PACIFIC.  547 

intend  to  cruise  until  the  1st  of  January.  Go  off  Cape 
Frio,  to  the  northward  of  Rio  de  Janeiro,  and  keep  a 
lookout  for  me.  Your  friend." 

Captain  Porter  accordingly  made  for  Cape  Frio,  ar 
riving  off  that  point  on  the  afternoon  of  the  25th  of 
December.  At  that  time  the  Constitution  and  the 
Hornet  were  off  Bahia,  and  four  days  later  the  former 
captured  the  Java.  After  cruising  in  the  vicinity  of 
Cape  Frio  several  days  in  the  expectation  of  falling  in 
with  Captain  Bainbridge,  the  Essex  was  drawn  away 
in  chase.  While  beating  back  to  her  station  she  cap 
tured  the  British  schooner  Elizabeth,  and  from  her  mas 
ter  learned  that  she  was  one  of  a  convoy  of  six  vessels 
that  had  left  Rio  de  Janeiro  the  day  before  bound  for 
Bahia,  but  the  Elizabeth  put  back  on  account  of  a  leak 
age.  The  Essex  immediately  crowded  all  sail,  hoping 
to  intercept  the  convoy,  and  while  beating  up  the  coast 
she  ascertained  from  Portuguese  vessels  that  the  Con 
stitution  and  the  Hornet  had  been  off  that  port.  After 
struggling  a  week  against  strong  northerly  winds,  Cap 
tain  Porter  gave  over  the  attempt  and  put  into  St. 
Catherine,  where  he  learned  that  the  74-gun  ship  Mon 
tagu  had  compelled  the  Hornet  to  raise  the  blockade 
on  the  Bonne  Citoyenne,  and  that  the  Hornet  and  the 
Constitution  had  put  to  sea. 

This  left  the  Essex  free  to  choose  her  own  course, 
and  Captain  Porter  conceived  the  bold  plan  of  doubling 
the  Horn  and  cruising  in  the  Pacific  Ocean.  This  cruise 
was  particularly  hazardous,  as  Great  Britain  exerted  a 
controlling  influence  over  the  South  American  coun 
tries,  so  that  the  Essex  could  hardly  expect  a  friendly 
reception  at  any  of  their  ports.  To  obviate  this  dif 
ficulty,  Captain  Porter  determined  to  live  on  the  enemy 
at  sea,  to  replenish  his  stores  from  captured  vessels, 
and,  if  the  frigate  stood  in  urgent  need  of  repairs,  to 
run  to  some  of  the  numerous  islands  and  there  effect 
the  more  necessary  changes.  This  scheme,  if  it  could 
be  carried  out,  offered  the  further  advantage  of  taking 


548       CAPTAIN   PORTER'S  CRUISE   IN  THE   PACIFIC.       1813. 

the  enemy  unawares  and  rendering  pursuit  almost  im 
possible,  while  it  also  enabled  the  Americans  to  strike  a 
severe  blow  at  British  commerce  in  the  Pacific  before  a 
sufficient  force  could  be  collected  to  drive  them  away. 
Yet  another  difficulty  stood  in  the  way  of  this  auda 
cious  enterprise.  The  season  for  doubling  the  Horn  had 
passed,  and  bold  indeed  was  the  mariner  who  hoped  to 
weather  that  tempestuous  point  at  this  time  of  the 
year.  But  Captain  Porter,  placing  every  confidence  in 
his  ship,  officers  and  crew,  set  out  upon  his  perilous 
voyage  on  the  26th  of  January,  1813. 

Scarcely  had  the  frigate  left  the  Island  of  St.  Cath 
erine  when  Captain  Porter  was  confronted  by  one  of 
the  numerous  dangers  that  the  undertaking  involved. 
On  the  27th  dysentery  made  its  appearance  among 
the  crew,  and  threatened  the  entire  ship's  company, 
but  the  excellent  sanitary  condition  maintained  in 
the  Essex,  together  with  her  captain's  untiring  care 
for  the  health  of  his  crew,  soon  caused  it  to  disap 
pear.  Cape  Horn  was  made  on  the  14th  of  Febru 
ary,  and  as  the  weather  had  been  moderate  up  to 
this  time  all  were  congratulating  themselves  on  their 
escape  from  the  terrors  of  the  Cape.  About  noon,  how 
ever,  a  storm  suddenly  came  up  and  raised  an  irregu 
lar  and  dangerous  sea.  Gale  succeeded  gale,  with  de 
ceitful  intervals  of  calm  encouraging  a  spread  of  can 
vas,  which  was  torn  away  again  by  sudden  blasts.  On 
the  28th  of  February  the  ship  came  into  smooth  water 
and  there  was  every  indication  that  the  worst  was 
past,  when  the  wind  began  to  freshen  and  soon  in 
creased  until  it  became  one  of  the  most  dreadful 
storms  of  the  cruise.  It  was  hoped  that  the  great  vio 
lence  of  the  wind  would  soon  expend  itself,  but  this 
hope  failing,  many  of  the  crew,  alarmed  by  the  terrors 
of  a  lee  shore,  and  exhausted  by  fatigue  and  anxiety, 
began  to  consider  their  situation  hopeless.  The  sea 
had  risen  to  an  extraordinary  height,  and  every  mo 
ment  it  threatened  to  engulf  the  little  Essex.  The 


1813.  IN  THE  BROAD   PACIFIC.  549 

ship  began  to  take  large  quantities  of  water  through 
her  waterways  and  separating  timbers,  because  of  the 
heavy  and  continued  strain  she  was  subjected  to,  and 
her  masts  and  bowsprit  seemed  in  danger  of  going  at 
every  lurch.  For  three  days  the  storm  continued,  and 
on  the  third  an  enormous  wave  broke  over  the  ship. 
The  gun-deck  ports  were  stove  in  from  bow  to  quarter, 
the  weather  quarter  boat  was  carried  to  the  wheel,  the 
lee  boat  was  taken  off  the  davits,  the  extra  spars  washed 
from  the  chains,  the  head  rails  swept  away,  and  the 
hammock  stanchions  broken.  The  boatswain  was  so 
appalled  that  he  cried  out :  ' '  The  ship' s  broadside  is 
stove  in !  We  are  sinking ! "  The  alarm  spread  all 
over  the  ship,  and  torrents  of  water  rushing  down  the 
hatchways  led  those  below  to  believe  that  she  was 
plunging  to  the  bottom  of  the  sea.  "  This  was  the  only 
instance,"  wrote  young  Farragut,  "in  which  I  ever  saw 
a  regular  good  seaman  paralyzed  by  fear  of  the  perils 
of  the  sea."  The  men  at  the  wheel,  however,  distin 
guished  themselves  by  their  cool  intrepidity,  and  after 
the  storm  Captain  Porter  promoted  them,  at  the  same 
time  rebuking  the  others  for  their  timidity. 

By  the  5th  of  March  the  Essex  was  fairly  in  the 
broad  Pacific,  and  soon  afterward  she  dropped  anchor 
off  the  island  of  Mocha.  Here  the  men  had  an  oppor 
tunity  to  exercise  themselves  while  a  large  hunting 
party  brought  in  hogs  and  horses,  which  were  salted 
down  and  packed.  The  Essex  had  now  been  at  sea 
over  two  months;  she  had  but  one  chart  of  the  Pa 
cific,  and  that  a  very  poor  one,  and  she  stood  in  great 
need  of  new  cordage ;  but  Captain  Porter  determined 
not  to  touch  at  any  town,  as  he  was  very  desirous  of 
capturing  a  number  of  the  enemy's  ships  before  his  ar 
rival  in  those  waters  was  discovered.  The  pressing 
necessities  of  the  frigate,  however,  compelled  him  to 
put  into  Valapraiso  on  the  15th,  where  he  learned  that 
Chili  had  declared  herself  independent  of  Spain. 

He  put  to  sea  again  on  the  20th  of  March,  and  on 


550       CAPTAIN   PORTER'S  CRUISE  IN  THE  PACIFIC.      1813. 

the  25th,  learning  from  the  master  of  the  ship  Charles, 
of  Nantucket,  that  the  American  whalers  Walker  and 
Barclay  only  two  days  before  had  been  captured  off 
Coquimbo  by  a  Spanish  and  an  English  ship,  he  made 
sail  for  the  scene  of  trouble.  At  eight  o'clock  in  the 
evening  of  March  26th  a  sail  was  discovered  to  the 
north,  and  on  nearer  approach  she  showed  Spanish 
colors,  whereupon  the  Essex  hoisted  the  English  flag. 
"  Immediately,  from  her  appearance  and  the  descrip 
tion  I  had  received  of  her,  I  knew  her  to  be  one  of  the 
picaroons  that  had  been  for  a  long  time  harassing  our 
commerce."1  The  stranger  quickly  ran  down,  fired  a 
shot  ahead  of  the  frigate,  and  sent  an  armed  boat 
aboard.  This  was  returned  with  peremptory  orders  to 
come  under  the  lee  of  the  Essex,  which  being  done, 
Captain  Porter  ran  out  his  guns  and  commanded  her 
to  strike.  The  stranger  proved  to  be  the  Peruvian 
cruiser  Nereyda,  of  fifteen  guns,  which  had  captured 
the  American  whalers.  Her  commander,  still  believing 
that  the  Essex  was  a  British  frigate,  admitted  that  he 
had  been  cruising  against  American  commerce,2  and 
Captain  Porter  ordered  all  the  Nereydtfs  guns,  small 
arms,  ammunition  and  spars  to  be  thrown  over 
board  ;  then,  having  obtained  from  her  commander  a 
list  of  all  vessels  in  the  Pacific  known  to  him,  he 
allowed  her  to  depart.  This  list  contained  the  names 
and  descriptions  of  the  ships  Nimrod,  Perseverance, 
Seringapatam,  Charlton,  Catherine,  Thames,  Green 
wich,  Monteznma,  Rose  and  Sir  ins.  These  were  all 
that  could  be  remembered,  but  the  Peruvian  asserted 
that  there  were  no  fewer  than  twenty-five  English 
whalers  in  these  waters. 

On  the  28th  of  March  the  Essex  stood  northward, 
with  the  expectation  of  falling  in  with  inward-bound 
whalers.  Captain  Porter  improved  the  fine  weather 

1  Captain  Porter's  journal. 

2  Letter  from  Captain  Porter  to  the  Viceroy  of  Peru,  March  26,  1813. 


1813.  FIRST  PRIZES.  551 

by  "  disguising  our  ship,  which  was  done  by  painting 
her  in  such  a  manner  as  to  conceal  her  real  force  and 
exhibit  in  its  stead  the  appearance  of  painted  guns, 
etc.  ;  also  by  giving  her  the  appearance  of  having  a 
poop,  and  otherwise  so  altering  her  as  to  make  her  look 
like  a  Spanish  merchant  vessel."  While  he  was  busy 
with  these  changes  the  lookout  reported  a  large  ship 
standing  for  the  port  of  Callao,  and  all  sail  was  imme 
diately  made  to  cut  her  off.  After  an  hour's  chase 
two  more  sails  standing  on  the  same  tack  were  dis 
covered.  The  first  vessel  was  overtaken  and  captured, 
and  on  boarding  it  was  found  to  be  the  Barclay.  The 
other  strangers,  not  seeming  to  suspect  the  Essex,  con 
tinued  on  their  course  until  one  was  made  out  to  be 
a  coasting  brig  and  the  other  a  "fine-looking  ship." 
But  they  proved  to  be  Spanish,  and  were  allowed  to 
pass  unmolested. 

The  frigate  then  took  a  favorable  position  for  watch 
ing  the  harbor  of  Callao,  but  meeting  no  success  here, 
she  made  for  Chatham  Island,  of  the  Galapagos,  with 
the  Barclay  in  company,  arriving  there  on  the  17th 
of  April.  Captian  Porter  determined  to  examine  the 
" post-office"  at  Charles  Island — a  box  nailed  to  a 
tree,  in  which  whalers  and  other  vessels  deposited 
records  of  their  movements — but  there  was  nothing  for 
the  Essex.  He  cruised  from  island  to  island  without 
meeting  a  sail,  until  "at  daylight  on  the  morning  of 
the  29th  [April]  I  was  aroused  from  my  cot,  where  I 
had  passed  a  sleepless  and  anxious  night,  by  the  cry 
of  '  Sail  ho  !  sail  ho  ! '  which  was  re-echoed  through  the 
ship,  and  in  a  moment  all  hands  were  on  deck."  Or 
ders  were  given  to  make  all  sail,  and  an  hour  afterward 
two  more  large  sails  appeared  above  the  horizon,  bear 
ing  away  to  the  southwest.  By  nine  o1  clock  the  Essex 
had  under  her  guns  the  first  vessel,  the  British  whaler 
Montezuma^  with  fourteen  hundred  barrels  of  sperma 
ceti  oil  aboard.  After  securing  his  prize,  Captain  Por 
ter  made  sail  for  the  other  strangers,  which,  as  he 

38 


552       CAPTAIN  PORTER'S  CRUISE  IN  THE   PACIFIC.       1813. 

learned  from  the  master  of  the  Mbntezuma,  were  the 
British  whalers  Georgiana  and  Policy,  and  at  this 
time  they  were  about  seven  miles  distant,  making 
strenuous  efforts  to  escape.  At  11  A.  M.  the  wind, 
which  had  been  light,  failed  altogether,  so  that  Cap 
tain  Porter  got  out  his  boats  and  sent  a  force  under 
Lieutenant  John  Downes  against  the  ships.  By  2  P.  M., 
when  the  boat  party  had  arrived  within  a  mile  of  the 
enemy,  the  largest  ship  hoisted  English  colors  and 
fired  several  guns,  upon  which  the  Americans  formed 
for  the  attack.  "  We  pulled  up  in  two  divisions,  and 
when  within  a  few  yards  Downes  hailed  and  asked  if 
they  had  surrendered,  at  the  same  time  displaying  the 
American  colors  from  a  boarding-pike  in  the  bow  of 
his  boat.  They  gave  three  cheers,  and  replied,  'We 
are  all  Americans.'  After  taking  possession  we  passed 
on  to  the  next  vessel.  The  mate  was  in  command  and 
hesitated  for  some  time,  but  seeing  one  of  our  men  in 
the  bow  of  the  boat  cock  his  musket,  he  yielded.  We 
had  taken  him  rather  by  surprise,  as  he  had  to  get  his 
guns  out  of  the  hold  and  mount  them,  and  he  remarked 
that,  if  he  had  been  ready  for  us,  some  of  us  would 
have  returned  with  bloody  noses.  The  greater  part  of 
the  crews  of  both  ships  were  Americans  who  had  been 
pressed  into  the  English  service,  and  many  entered  for 
our  ship."1 

These  prizes,  together  with  their  cargoes,  were  esti 
mated  to  be  worth  in  England  half  a  million  dollars. 
As  the  Georgiana  had  the  reputation  of  being  a  fast 
sailer  and  was  pierced  for  eighteen  guns,  and  mounted 
six  when  she  was  captured,  Captain  Porter  determined 
to  fit  her  up  as  a  cruiser.  The  Policy  carried  ten  guns, 
which,  being  transferred  to  the  Georgiana,  gave  the 
latter  sixteen  light  guns.  All  the  small  arms  and  am 
munition  found  in  the  other  prizes  were  then  put 
aboard  the  Georgiana,  and  on  the  8th  of  May  Lieuten- 

1  Farragut's  Journal,  edited  by  Loyall  Farragut,  p.  22. 


1813.  AN   EXCITING   CHASE.  553 

ant  Dowries  and  forty-one  men  were  placed  in  charge 
of  her.  The  American  flag  was  then  hoisted  and  a 
salute  of  seventeen  guns  fired,  which  was  returned  by 
nine  guns  from  the  Essex.  It  was  hoped  that  the  Geor- 
giana,  thus  equipped,  would  be  able  to  cope  with  any 
of  the  enemy's  numerous  privateers.  This  draft  of  sea 
men  left  the  Essex  with  a  crew  of  two  hundred  and 
sixty-four  men,  including  officers  and  those  on  board 
the  Barclay.  As  it  was  pleasant  weather,  Captain 
Porter  overhauled  his  ship,  rove  new  rigging,  bent  new 
sails,  restowed  the  hold  and  painted  the  frigate ;  the 
captured  whalers  furnishing  the  supplies. 

On  the  afternoon  of  May  28th,  the  vessels  still  being 
in  the  vicinity  of  Charles  Island,  a  sail  was  discovered 
and  chased,  but  night  intervened  before  she  could  be 
overtaken,  and  Captain  Porter,  fearing  that  she  would 
escape  by  altering  her  course,  ordered  the  Montezuma, 
the  Barclay  and  the  Policy  to  stretch  out  on  different 
courses,  so  that  one  of  the  ships  might  be  in  sight  of 
the  chase  on  the  following  morning.  The  plan  proved 
successful,  for  soon  after  daylight  on  the  29th  the 
Montezuma  signaled  "a  sail  to  the  northward."  The 
Essex  bore  away  in  chase,  but  it  was  fully  two  hours 
before  anything  of  the  stranger  could  be  made  out 
from  the  masthead.  An  exciting  chase  was  maintained 
throughout  the  day,  and  toward  evening  the  Essex  ran 
alongside  and  captured  the  British  letter  of  marque 
Atlantic,  mounting  eight  18-pounders.  At  this  mo 
ment  another  strange  sail  was  reported  from  the  mast 
head,  and  as  the  Atlantic  had  the  reputation  of  being 
the  fastest  vessel  in  these  waters,  Captain  Porter  put 
Midshipman  M'  Knight  and  eleven  men  in  her  and  or 
dered  them  after  the  chase,  the  Essex  soon  following. 
Night  was  fast  coming  on  while  yet  the  stranger  was 
hull  down,  but  the  pursuit  was  maintained  with  dogged 
perseverance,  although  there  was  little  chance  of  com 
ing  up  with  her.  At  one  time  they  lost  sight  of  the 
stranger,  but  after  a  long  search  through  the  night  glass 


554       CAPTAIN   PORTER'S  CRUISE  IN   THE  PACIFIC.      1813. 

she  was  again  made  out,  having  changed  her  course  in 
order  to  elude  her  pursuers.  The  Essex  now  rapid 
ly  gained,  and  in  a  few  hours  held  the  chase  under 
her  battery.  This  prize  was  another  British  letter  of 
marque,  the  Greenwich,  which  had  sailed  from  Eng 
land  under  the  convoy  of  the  38-gun  frigate  Java.  She 
had  on  board  one  hundred  tons  of  water,  which  at  that 
time  was  of  great  value  to  Captain  Porter.  The  Atlan 
tic  and  the  Greenwich  also  were  abundantly  supplied 
with  provisions  of  every  description,  and  naval  stores, 
such  as  cordage,  canvas,  paints  and  tar,  and  eight  hun 
dred  large  tortoises,  sufficient  to  furnish  all  the  ships 
with  fresh  provisions  for  a  month.  Lieutenant  Gamble, 
of  the  Marines,  with  thirteen  men,  was  placed  aboard 
the  Greenwich.  The  little  squadron  now  consisted  of 
the  Essex,  carrying  forty-six  guns  and  two  hundred 
and  forty-five  men ;  the  Georgiana,  sixteen  guns  and 
forty-two  men  ;  the  Greenwich,  ten  guns  and  fourteen 
men ;  the  Atlantic,  six  guns  and  twelve  men ;  the 
Montezuma,  two  guns  and  ten  men ;  the  Policy,  ten 
men  ;  and  the  Barclay,  seven  men  ;  in  all,  seven  ships, 
carrying  eighty  guns  and  three  hundred  and  forty  men, 
besides  which  there  were  eighty  prisoners,  which  made 
a  total  of  four  hundred  and  twenty. 

Captain  Porter  found  himself  so  encumbered  with 
prisoners  and  prizes  as  to  be  compelled  to  touch  at 
some  neutral  port.  Accordingly,  sail  was  made  for  the 
mainland,  and  on  the  19th  of  June  the  squadron 
dropped  anchor  in  the  river  Tumbez  ;  but  the  Georgi- 
ana,  Lieutenant  Downes,  in  the  meantime  was  ordered 
to  cruise  and  to  rejoin  the  squadron  in  the  Tumbez 
within  a  specified  time.  While  thus  cruising  near 
James  Island,  Lieutenant  Downes  discovered  two  sails, 
which  ran  down  to  him  without  the  least  suspicion  of 
danger  ;  in  fact,  their  masters  did  not  know  that  they 
were  in  the  presence  of  an  enemy  until  they  had  gone 
on  board  the  Georgiana  and  were  made  prisoners. 
These  vessels  proved  to  be  the  Catherine,  of  eight  guns 


1813.  MAKING   REPAIRS  AT  SEA.  555 

and  twenty-nine  men,  and  the  Rose,  of  eight  guns  and 
twenty-one  men.  The  prisoners  were  secured,  and 
prize  masters  and  twenty  men  were  put  aboard. 

In  the  afternoon  of  the  same  day  another  sail  was 
discovered,  and  the  Georgiana  gave  chase,  and  late  at 
night  overtook  a  well-armed  privateer.  At  this  time 
Lieutenant  Downes  had  only  twenty  men  and  boys 
with  whom  to  handle  and  fight  his  ship,  besides  which 
he  had  upward  of  fifty  prisoners  to  guard  ;  but,  un 
mindful  of  the  danger,  he  boldly  ran  alongside  the 
stranger  and  ordered  her  to  strike.  To  this  summons 
the  British  commander  returned  no  answer,  but  was 
heard  ordering  his  guns  to  be  cleared.  The  Georgiana 
then  fired  a  shot  into  the  enemy's  quarter,  upon  which 
they  attempted  to  escape  by  crowding  on  sail.  Lieu 
tenant  Downes  then  opened  fire  in  earnest,  and  after 
the  fifth  broadside  the  stranger  surrendered,  having 
lost  her  main  topmast  and  most  of  her  standing  and 
running  rigging,  and  had  two  of  her  men  killed  and  six 
dangerously  wounded.  This  third  ship  was  the  Hector, 
of  eleven  guns  and  twenty-five  men.  After  putting  a 
prize  crew  aboard  her,  the  Georgiana  was  left  with 
only  ten  men,  while  her  number  of  prisoners  was  in 
creased  to  seventy- three,  so  that  it  was  imperative 
that  she  should  be  disencumbered  of  her  dangerous 
captives.  Accordingly  the  Rose  was  made  a  cartel,  all 
her  guns  were  thrown  overboard,  most  of  her  cargo 
was  destroyed,  and  the  prisoners,  being  released  on  pa 
role  and  put  aboard  of  her,  were  directed  to  make  for 
St.  Helena,  while  the  Georgiana,  with  her  two  remain 
ing  prizes,  made  for  Tumbez,  where  she  rejoined  Cap 
tain  Porter's  squadron  on  the  24th  of  June.  On  the 
same  day  Mr.  Downes  was  promoted  to  the  rank  of 
master-commandant,  and  as  the  Atlantic  was  a  hun 
dred  toDS  larger  than  the  Georgiana,  and  proved  much 
faster,  he  and  his  crew,'  now  augmented  to  sixty,  were 
transferred  to  the  former.  Twenty  guns  were  mounted 
aboard  of  her,  and  forthwith  the  Atlantic  went  under 


556        CAPTAIN   PORTER'S  CRUISE  IN  THE  PACIFIC.      1813. 

the  name  of  Essex  Junior,  while  all  the  stores  in  the 
other  prizes  were  placed  in  the  Greenwich,  which  was 
now  used  as  the  storeship  of  the  squadron. 

Having  effected  these  changes,  the  squadron  put  to 
sea  on  the  30th  of  June.  On  the  4th  of  July  a  salute 
of  seventeen  guns  was  fired  from  the  Essex,  the  Essex 
Junior  and  the  Greenwich,  and  "the  day  was  spent 
in  the  utmost  conviviality."  On  the  9th  the  Essex 
Junior  was  ordered  to  escort  the  Hector,  the  Cathe 
rine,  the  Policy,  the  Montezuma  and  the  Barclay  (the 
youthful  Farragut  in  command  of  the  last)  to  Val 
paraiso  ;  and  having  appointed  a  rendezvous  with  the 
Essex  Junior  for  September,  Captain  Porter,  with  the 
Greenwich  and  the  Georgiana,  made  for  the  Gala 
pagos.  On  the  13th  of  July,  off  Banks  Bay,  three 
sails  were  discovered.  The  Essex  gave  chase  to  the 
one  in  the  middle,  the  other  strangers  making  off  on 
different  tacks  with  the  Georgiana  after  them,  while 
the  slow- sailing  Greenwich  was  soon  left  behind.  As 
the  Essex  was  gradually  overhauling  her  chase,  Cap 
tain  Porter  became  anxious  for  his  storeship,  for  the 
inshore  stranger,  a  large,  fine-looking  ship,  was  seen 
standing  for  her,  and  the  Greenwich,  having  re-en 
forced  her  crew  from  the  Georgiana,  boldly  bore  down 
for  the  stranger.  The  Essex  soon  secured  her  prize, 
which  proved  to  be  the  English  ship  CJiarlton,  of  ten 
guns,  and  from  her  master  Captain  Porter  learned  that 
the  other  ships  were  the  Seringapatam,  of  fourteen 
guns  and  forty  men,  and  the  New  Zealander,  of  eight 
guns  and  twenty- three  men.  The  Greenwich  contin 
ued  after  the  Seringapatam,  and  after  several  broad 
sides  had  been  exchanged  the  latter  struck,  but  imme 
diately  afterward  made  all  sail  to  escape.  The  dull- 
sailing  Greenwich  made  every  endeavor  to  come  up 
with  her,  but  she  would  have  lost  her  prize  in  the  fast 
closing  of  the  night  had  not  the*  Essex,  after  capturing 
the  New  Zealander,  joined  in  the  pursuit  and  over 
hauled  the  chase  about  an  hour  later.  The  CUarlton 


.3 

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Q- 


1813.  A  LONG  CHASE.  557 

was  now  stripped  of  her  armament,  and  forty-eight 
paroled  prisoners  were  put  aboard  of  her  and  ordered 
to  make  for  Rio  de  Janeiro.  Her  eight  guns  had  been 
transferred  to  the  Serinffapatam,  giving  the  latter 
twenty- two  in  all.  On  the  25th  of  July  the  Georgiana 
was  sent  to  the  United  States  with  a  full  cargo  of  oil, 
and  as  the  Essex  had  been  at  sea  nine  months  the 
time  of  enlistment  for  many  of  her  crew  was  nearly 
up.  and  this  opportunity  for  returning  home  was  of 
fered  to  those  who  did  not  wish  to  re-enlist ;  but  nearly 
all  desired  to  continue  on  the  cruise.  On  the  25th  the 
vessels  separated,  the  Georgiana  homeward  bound,  the 
Essex,  the  Greenwich,  the  Seringapatam  and  the  New 
Zealander  making  for  Albemarle  Island. 

On  the  morning  of  the  28th  of  July  a  sail  was  de 
scried  to  windward,  but  as  the  Essex  was  becalmed 
while  the  stranger  held  a  light  breeze  the  latter  soon 
ran  out  of  sight.  In  the  night,  however,  the  Essex 
caught  the  breeze  and  crowded  all  sail  in  the  direction 
the  stranger  was  taking  when  last  seen,  and  on  the  fol 
lowing  morning  Captain  Porter  had  the  satisfaction  of 
making  out  the  chase  from  his  masthead.  The  frig 
ate  now  rapidly  gained  until,  when  she  was  about  four 
miles  distant  from  the  chase,  the  wind  failed,  upon 
which  the  stranger  sent  his  boats  ahead  to  tow  ;  while 
Captain  Porter  resorted  to  his  drags,  by  means  of  which 
he  acquired  a  headway  of  two  knots  an  hour,  at  the  same 
time  ordering  his  gig  and  whaleboat,  with  some  good 
marksmen,  to  pull  ahead  and  annoy  the  enemy.  The 
American  sharpshooters  did  their  work  effectively, 
driving  the  enemy  from  his  boats  and  compelling  him 
to  relinquish  towing.  By  four  o'clock  the  Essex  had 
reduced  her  distance  to  three  miles,  when  Captain  Por 
ter  got  out  his  boats  for  the  purpose  of  boarding.  The 
boats  pulled  toward  the  chase  in  gallant  style,  despite 
a  galling  fire,  but  when  they  were  about  three  quarters 
of  a  mile  from  the  enemy  a  breeze  sprang  up  and 
filled  the  stranger's  sails,  and  away  he  went,  again 


558       CAPTAIN  PORTER'S  CRUISE  IN  THE   PACIFIC.       1813. 

leaving  the  Essex  becalmed.  By  sunset  he  was  hull 
down,  but  the  boats  maintained  the  pursuit,  hoping 
that  the  wind  would  soon  die  out.  It  was  not  until 
dark  that  the  Essex  felt  the  breeze,  when,  directed  by 
flashes  of  gunpowder,  she  was  able  to  follow  her  boats, 
and  after  picking  them  up  she  continued  on  the 
course  that  the  chase  held.  But  on  the  following 
morning  the  stranger  was  nowhere  to  be  seen,  and  at 
noon  the  pursuit  was  abandoned.  Greatly  mortified 
at  the  escape  of  the  enemy  after  such  a  long  and  prom 
ising  chase,  Captain  Porter  made  for  James  Island, 
where  he  anchored  on  the  4th  of  August.  The  Serin- 
gapatam  was  now  painted  to  look  like  the  Essex  and 
the  appearance  of  the  latter  was  entirely  changed,  while 
the  Greenwich  was  made  to  look  like  a  sloop  of  war ; 
Captain  Porter  hoping  to  derive  some  advantage  by 
means  of  this  deception.  On  the  22d  of  the  same  month 
the  squadron  put  into  Banks  Bay. 

Leaving  the  prizes  at  this  place,  the  Essex,  on  the 
24th  of  August,  put  to  sea,  and  after  sailing  among 
the  islands  for  several  weeks  without  success,  Captain 
Porter,  on  the  15th  of  September,  discovered  a  sail 
southward.  Not  wishing  to  run  the  risk  of  another 
long  chase  in  the  fickle  winds  of  this  season,  he  ordered 
the  fore  and  main  royal  yards  to  be  sent  down,  the 
mast  housed,  the  ports  closed,  the  sails  trimmed  in  a 
slovenly  manner  and  every  care  taken  to  give  the 
frigate  the  appearance  of  a  merchantman,  and  in  this 
disguise  the  Essex  kept  plying  to  windward  under 
easy  sail.  By  noon  the  sail  was  seen  to  be  a  whaler, 
lying  to  and  "cutting  in"  blubber.  At  one  o'clock, 
when  the  vessels  were  but  four  miles  apart,  the  stran 
ger  suddenly  took  alarm,  cast  off  her  whale,  and  made 
all  sail  to  escape.  The  Essex  was  immediately  trimmed 
and  was  soon  stretching  out  in  chase,  and  at  four 
o'clock  she  was  within  gunshot,  and  by  firing  six  or 
eight  times  at  the  stranger  induced  her  to  surrender. 
She  was  found  to  be  the  British  letter  of  marque  Sir 


1813. 


WINTER  QUARTERS  AT   NUKAH1VA. 


559 


Andrew  Hammond,  "pierced  for  twenty  guns,  com 
missioned  for  sixteen,  but  had  only  twelve  mounted, 
with  a  complement  of  thirty-six  men."  The  most 
pleasing  phase  of  this  capture  was  that  this  ship  was 
the  one  which  on  the  28th  and  29th  of  July  had  led 
the  Essex  such  a  long  and  fruitless  chase.  "Her 
captain  assured  me  that  our  ship  had  been  so  strange 
ly  altered  that  he  supposed  her  to  be  a  whale  ship, 
until  we  were  within  three  or  four  miles  of  him  and 
it  was  too  late  to  escape.  Nor  did  he  suppose  her  to 
be  a  frigate  until  we  were  within  gunshot,  and  indeed 
never  would  have  suspected  her  to  be  the  same  ship 
that  had  chased  him  before,  as  she  did  not  now  ap 
pear  above  one  half  the  size  she  did  formerly. " 1 


The  Essex  cruising  with  her  prizes. 

The  Essex  and  her  prizes  made  for  Banks  Bay, 
where,  soon  after  their  arrival,  they  were  joined  by 
the  Essex  Junior  on  her  return  from  Valparaiso. 
Captain  Porter  now  learned  that  several  English  frig 
ates  of  superior  force  were  in  these  waters,  searching 
for  the  mischievous  Essex.  Having  captured  all  the 
British  whalers  and  privateers  of  which  he  had  heard, 
he  sailed  for  the  Marquesas  Islands,  and  made  Nuka- 
hiva  on  the  23d  of  October,  which  place  was  so  well 
adapted  for  repairing  his  ship  that  it  was  decided  to 

1  Captain  Porter's  journal. 


560       CAPTAIN   PORTER'S   CRUISE   IN  THE  PACIFIC.       1813. 

spend  the  winter  there  and  to  give  the  vessel  a  thor 
ough  overhauling.  Accordingly,  a  fort  was  erected  to 
command  the  bay,  the  frigate  was  dismantled,  the 
stores  landed,  workshops  built,  the  rats — which  had 
become  so  numerous  as  to  endanger  the  safety  of  the 
ship — smoked  out,  and  extensive  repairs  begun. 

The  island  of  Nukahiva  is  traversed  by  valleys 
which  were  inhabited  by  tribes  hostile  to  one  another, 
and  in  consequence  of  his  friendly  relations  with  the 
natives  in  the  vicinity  of  the  bay  Captain  Porter  an 
tagonized  the  others,  which  enmity  soon  became  so 
serious  that  the  Americans  were  compelled  to  unite 
with  their  neighbors  in  an  expedition  against  the  com 
mon  enemy.  After  several  sharp  encounters  peace 
was  restored.  Young  Farragut  wrote:  ''During  our 
stay  at  this  island  the  youngsters — I  among  the  num 
ber — were  sent  on  board  the  vessel  commanded  by  our 
chaplain  for  the  purpose  of  continuing  our  studies, 
away  from  temptation.  In  November  the  New  Zea- 
lander  was  sent  to  the  United  States  with  a  full  cargo 
of  oil,  and  both  this  vessel  and  the  Georgiana  were  re 
captured  while  nearing  port.  Availing  themselves  of 
the  liberty  given  them,  the  prisoners  planned  to  attack 
the  Essex  Junior  in  canoes  from  the  shore,  cut  her 
cables  and  get  out  of  gunshot  before  being  discovered. 
This  done,  they  hoped  to  be  masters  of  the  situation, 
for  the  Essex  was  dismantled,  and  none  of  the  other 
vessels  were  of  sufficient  force  to  cope  with  them.  The 
plot,  fortunately,  was  revealed  to  Captain  Porter,  and 
thenceforth  the  prisoners  were  placed  in  greater  se 
curity. 


CHAPTER  XII. 

THE   HEROIC   DEFENSE   OF  THE   ESSEX. 

THE  Essex  had  now  comp]etely  destroyed  British 
commerce  in  this  part  of  the  world,  for  the  vessels  that 
had  not  been  captured  did  not  dare  to  leave  port,  while 
American  merchant  ships  received  ample  protection. 
Finding  that  there  were  no  more  English  merchant 
men  to  be  captured,  and  desirous  of  meeting  an  enemy 
worthy  of  his  ship,  Captain  Porter  determined  to  sail 
early  in  December  in  search  of  some  of  the  British 
cruisers  that  had  been  sent  out  to  intercept  him.  When 
it  was  rumored  about  the  squadron  that  they  were  to 
sail  in  a  short  time,  several  of  the  men  expressed  dis 
satisfaction,  and  some  of  the  seamen  in  the  prizes  were 
loud  in  their  murmurings.  The  discontent  finally  be 
came  so  pronounced  that  there  was  danger  of  mutiny, 
and  the  prompt  and  decisive  manner  in  which  Captain 
Porter  met  the  emergency  is  graphically  described  by 
Farragut  as  follows  :  "On  the  9th  of  December,  when, 
as  was  the  custom  on  Sunday,  many  of  our  men  visited 
the  Essex  Junior,  and  I  suppose  from  having  received 
some  intimation  that  the  ship  was  about  to  sail  dissat 
isfaction  was  expressed,  as  the  sailors  were  loath  to 
give  up  the  demoralizing  pleasures  of  the  island.  On 
Monday  morning,  December  10th,  I  saw  that  all  was 
not  right.  Captain  Porter  took  his  cutlass  in  his  hand, 
which  he  laid  on  the  capstan.  He  then,  though  shak 
ing  with  anger,  addressed  the  crew,  who  had  been  mus 
tered  on  the  port  side  of  the  deck,  with  forced  compo 
sure.  '  All  of  you  who  are  in  favor  of  weighing  the 
anchor  when  I  give  the  order  pass  over  to  the  starboard 

(561) 


562  THE  HEROIC   DEFENSE   OF   THE  ESSEX.  1813. 

side  ;  you  who  are  of  a  different  determination  stay  on 
the  larboard  side.'  All  of  them,  to  a  man,  walked  over 
to  the  starboard.  He  then  called  up  a  man  named 
Robert  White,  an  Englishman,  and  said  to  him  in  a 
severe  tone  :  '  How  is  this  ?  Did  you  not  tell  them  on 
board  the  Essex  Junior  that  the  crew  of  this  ship 
would  refuse  to  weigh  anchor  ? '  The  man  tremblingly 
replied,  'No,  sir.'  'You  lie,  you  scoundrel!'  said  the 
captain.  'Where  is  the  list  of  men  who  visited  the 
Essex  Junior  on  Sunday  ? '  He  then  made  several  of 
them  step  forward,  and  put  the  question  to  them  one 
after  the  other,  'Did  you  not  hear  of  this  thing  on 
board  the  Essex  Junior  f '  '  Yes,  sir,'  was  the  response. 
Then  turning  to  White,  he  exclaimed,  'Run,  you 
scoundrel,  for  your  life  ! '  and  away  the  fellow  went  over 
the  starboard  gangway.  I  believe  Captain  Porter  would 
have  killed  the  man  at  the  moment  if  he  had  caught 
him,  but  it  was  equally  evident  he  did  not  make  any 
great  exertion  to  do  so.  White  got  into  a  passing 
canoe,  and  we  never  saw  him  again.  Captain  Porter 
then  addressed  the  men  in  a  hearty  manner,  praising 
their  good  conduct,  and  holding  up  to  reprobation  such 
miserable  villainies.  At  the  same  time  he  gave  them 
to  understand  that  he  always  intended  to  act  summa 
rily  when  such  disgraceful  affairs  came  to  his  notice, 
and  intimated  to  them  that  he  '  would  blow  them  all  to 
eternity  before  they  should  succeed  in  a  conspiracy.' 
Having  delivered  this  address,  he  wheeled  around  and 
ordered  them  to  man  the  capstan,  and  the  music  to 
play  'The  Girl  I  left  Behind  me.'  The  fiddle  struck 
up,  the  anchor  fairly  flew  to  the  bows,  and  we  made 
sail  and  stood  out  to  sea." 

A  garrison  of  twenty  men,  under  Lieutenant  John 
M.  Gamble,  of  the  marines,  and  Midshipmen  Feltus 
and  Clark,  was  left  at  the  island  in  charge  of  the 
prizes  Seringapatam,  Sir  Andrew  Hammond  and 
Greenwich.  The  Essex  and  the  Essex  Junior  on  the 
12th  of  December  sailed  for  the  coast  of  South  Amer- 


1814.  ON  THE   VERGE  OF  BATTLE.  563 

ica,  where  they  arrived  early  in  January,  1814.  After 
taking  in  water  at  San  Maria,  and  looking  into  the  port 
of  Concepcion,  they  reached  Valparaiso  on  the  3d  of 
February,  where  Captain  Porter  learned  that  the  Brit 
ish  36-gun  frigate  Phoebe,  Captain  James  Hillyar,  had 
arrived  on  the  coast  in  search  of  the  Essex,  and  he  de 
termined  to  await  her  at  Valparaiso.  On  the  7th  of 
February  Captain  Porter  gave  a  reception  to  the  offi 
cials  of  Valparaiso  and  other  citizens  and  their  families. 
On  the  following  morning,  while  the  men  were  busy 
taking  down  the  awnings,  bunting  and  other  decora 
tions  used  at  the  reception,  the  Essex  Junior,  which 
had  been  cruising  in  the  offing  to  keep  a  lookout  for 
the  expected  British  frigates,  signaled  "two  enemy's 
ships  in  sight."  At  this  moment  half  of  the  Essex's  crew 
was  at  liberty  on  shore,  while  the  frigate  itself  was  in 
some  disorder  from  the  festivities  of  the  night  before. 
Captain  Porter  fired  a  gun  and  hoisted  the  recall  cor 
net  for  "all  boats  and  men  to  return."  The  strangers 
proved  to  be  the  Phoebe,  and,  contrary  to  Captain 
Porter's  expectation,  the  18-gun  ship-sloop  Cherub, 
Captain  Tucker,  in  company.  When  these  ships  ap 
peared  off  the  harbor  "the  mate  of  an  English  mer 
chantman  which  was  lying  in  port  went  immediately 
on  board  the  Phosbe  and  told  Captain  Hillyar  that  half 
of  our  men  were  on  shore,  and  that  the  Essex  would 
fall  an  easy  prey."1  Hearing  this,  Captain  Hillyar, 
with  the  Cherub,  ran  into  the  harbor  on  a  wind,  but  by 
the  time  the  enemy  was  within  gunshot  the  Essex  was 
fully  prepared  for  action.  On  the  Phcebe  came,  with 
her  crew  at  quarters,  and,  doubling  the  Essex''  s  quar 
ter,  Captain  Hillyar  put  his  helm  down  aod  luffed  up 
on  her  starboard  bow,  bringing  the  frigates  within  fif 
teen  feet  of  each  other.  At  this  critical  moment  Cap 
tain  Hillyar,  who  had  exchanged  friendly  visits  with 
the  American  commander  several  years  before  when 

1  Farragut's  journal. 


564-  TnE   HEROIC   DEFENSE  OF  THE  ESSEX.  1814. 

£hey  were  in  the  Mediterranean,  appeared  on  an  after 
gun,  and  said  :  "  Captain  Hillyar's  compliments  to  Cap 
tain  Porter,  and  hopes  he  is  well."  Porter  replied: 
"Very  well,  I  thank  you;  but  I  hope  you  will  not 
come  too  near,  for  fear  some  accident  might  take  place 
which  would  be  disagreeable  to  you,"  and  with  a  wave 
of  his  trumpet  the  kedge  anchors  went  up  to  the  yard 
arms,  ready  to  grapple  the  enemy.  Captain  Hillyar 
braced  back  his  yards,  and  remarked  that  if  he  did 
fall  aboard  he  begged  to  assure  the  American  captain 
it  would  be  entirely  accidental.  "  Well,"  said  Porter, 
"you  have  no  business  where  you  are.  If  you  touch  a 
rope  yarn  of  this  ship  I  shall  board  instantly."  He 
then  hailed  the  Essex  Junior,  and  told  Lieutenant 
Downes  to  be  prepared  to  repel  the  enemy.  "When 
the  Phoebe  was  close  alongside,"  wrote  Farragut,  "and 
all  hands  were  at  quarters,  the  powder  boys  stationed 
with  slow  matches  ready  to  discharge  the  guns,  the 
boarders,  cutlass  in  hand,  standing  by  to  board  in  the 
smoke,  as  was  our  custom,  an  intoxicated  youth  saw, 
or  imagined  that  he  saw,  through  the  port  some  one 
in  the  PJicebe  grinning  at  him.  'My  fine  fellow,  I'll 
stop  your  making  faces,'  he  exclaimed,  and  was  just 
about  to  fire  his  gun,  when  Lieutenant  M'Knight  saw 
the  movement  and  with  a  blow  sprawled  him  on  the 
deck.  Had  that  gun  been  fired,  I  am  convinced  that 
the  Phosbe  would  have  been  ours."  In  getting  out  of 
her  dangerous  position  the  Phcebe  passed  her  jib-boom 
over  the  Es serfs  deck,  thus  exposing  herself  to  a  raking 
fire  from  the  entire  broadside  of  the  American  frigate, 
while  the  Essex  Junior  held  a  raking  position  under 
her  stern,  "so  that  in  fifteen  minutes  we  could  have 
taken  or  destroyed  her."1  The  fact  that  Captain  Hill 
yar  believed  the  Essex  to  be  unprepared  for  action,  to 
gether  with  this  extraordinary  manoeuvre,  is  strong 
evidence  that  he  intended  to  attack  her  in  spite  of  the 

1  Captain  Porter  to  the  Secretary  of  the  Navy,  July  13,  1814. 


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1814.          THE  ESSEX  BLOCKADED  AT  VALPARAISO.  565 

neutrality  of  the  port,  and  his  subsequent  conduct 
leaves  no  room  for  doubt  on  this  point. 

After  remaining  in  port  several  days,  the  Phoebe 
and  the  Cherub  got  to  sea  and  blockaded  the  harbor. 
One  night  Captain  Porter  headed  a  boat  party  against 
the  Phoebe,  who  pulled  with  muffled  oars  toward  the 
enemy  and  came  so  close  that  the  Englishmen  could  be 
heard  conversing  on  the  forecastle,  from  which  conver 
sation  it  was  discovered  that  the  attack  was  expected 
and  that  the  men  were  lying  at  their  quarters.  This 
necessitated  an  abandonment  of  the  attack,  and  the 
boats  returned  without  being  discovered.  On  the  27th 
of  February,  the  Cherub  being  about  three  miles  to 
leeward,  Captain  Hillyar  ran  close  in,  hoisted  a  flag 
bearing  the  motto,  u  God  and  country,  British  sail 
ors'  best  rights :  traitors  offend  both,"  and  fired  a  gun 
to  windward.  Captain  Porter  hoisted  a  flag  at  his 
mizzenmast  bearing  the  motto,  "God,  our  country, 
and  liberty  :  tyrants  offend  them,"  and  in  five  minutes 
he  had  the  Essex  standing  down  the  harbor  under  top 
sails  and  jib ;  but  as  the  frigates  were  getting  within 
range  and  the  Essex  had  already  opened  fire,  the 
Phoebe  put  about,  set  her  studding  sails,  and  ran  down 
to  her  consort.  This  breach  of  good  faith  on  the  part 
of  Captain  Hillyar  aroused  much  indignation  among 
the  Americans,  and  but  one  satisfactory  explanation 
of  it  can  be  found,  that  he  had  received  strict  orders 
not  to  attack  the  Essex  in  single  combat. 

For  six  weeks  the  Phoebe  and  the  Cherub  mounted 
guard  over  the  Essex.  Learning  that  the  British  38- 
gun  frigate  Tagus  and  two  other  frigates  had  sailed  in 
search  of  the  Essex,  and  that  the  Raccoon  was  expect 
ed  at  Valparaiso  in  a  short  time,  Captain  Porter  deter 
mined  to  get  to  sea  in  spite  of  the  blockade,  and  ap 
pointed  a  rendezvous  with  the  Essex  Junior ;  but  on 
the  28th  of  March,  in  a  heavy  gale  from  the  south,  the 
Essex  parted  her  port  cable  and  dragged  her  starboard 
anchor  to  sea.  The  enemy  at  this  time  was  close  in  to 


566  THE   HEROIC   DEFENSE  OF  THE  ESSEX.  1814. 

the  western  side  of  the  bay,  and  Captain  Porter  deter 
mined  to  run  the  blockade  by  passing  to  windward. 
He  took  in  his  topgallant  sails,  which  were  set  over 
single-reefed  topsails,  and  braced  up  for  this  purpose. 
The  attempt  seemed  to  be  successful,  but  scarcely  had 
the  topgallant  sails  been  clewed  down  when,  just  as 
the  ship  was  rounding  Point  of  Angels,  a  squall  struck 
her,  causing  her  to  heel  nearly  gunwale  under,  and 
although  the  topsail  halyards  were  immediately  let  go 
the  yards  became  jammed  and  would  not  fall.  A  mo 
ment  later  the  main  topmast  gave  way  under  the  strain 
and  went  over  the  side,  carrying  the  men  who  were  on 
the  main  topgallant  yard  into  the  sea,  where  they  were 
lost.  In  view  of  this  disaster,  Captain  Porter  endeav 
ored  to  regain  his  anchorage,  but  owing  to  the  crip 
pled  condition  of  his  ship,  he  was  unable  to  do  so.  He 
then  ran  into  a  small  bay  and  anchored  about  three 
quarters  of  a  mile  to  leeward  of  the  battery  on  the  east 
side  of  the  harbor,  and  let  go  his  anchor  "within  pis 
tol-shot  of  the  shore."1  Soon  the  Phcebe  and  the  Cher 
ub,  bedecked  with  flags,  were  seen  coming  down,  evi 
dently  with  the  intention  of  engaging  in  spite  of  the 
neutrality  of  the  place,  and,  notwithstanding  the  dis 
abled  condition  of  his  frigate,  Captain  Porter  made 
every  preparation  for  a  desperate  resistance.  Springs 
were  put  on  the  cables,  and  American  colors  hoisted  at 
the  gaff,  at  the  fore  and  mizzen  masts,  and  at  the  cap 
of  the  mainmast. 

At  3.54  P.  M.  the  Phoebe,  having  selected  a  position 
under  the  Essex's  stern,  while  the  Cherub  took  one  on 
her  starboard  bow,  opened  at  long  range.  The  Phoebe's 
fire  proved  very  destructive,  as  the  Essex  had  scarcely 
a  long  gun  that  would  bear,  but  the  Cherub  soon  found 
her  position  too  close  for  her,  upon  which  she  ran 
around  to  the  Essex's  stern  and  opened  a  raking  fire. 

1  Official  report  of  Captain  Porter.     James,  vol.  vi,  p.  152,  says  "  with 
in  half  a  mile  of  the  shore." 


1814.  CAUTIOUS  ATTACK  OF  THE  ENGLISH.  567 

With  much  difficulty  three  long  12-pounders  were  got 
aft  and  run  out  of  the  stern  ports,  and  were  fired  with 
such  skill  that  in  half  an  hour  both  the  British  ships 
hauled  out  of  range.  In  this  short  cannonade  Captain 
Hillyar  reported  that  the  Phcebe  "lost  the  use  of  her 
mainsail,  jib  and  mainstay,"  while  James  adds,  "  Her 
jib-boom  was  also  badly  wounded,  and  her  fore,  main 
and  mizzen  stays  shot  away,"  and,  as  Captain  Hillyar 
quaintly  remarked,  ''appearances  were  a  little  inau 
spicious."  In  the  first  half  hour  of  the  fight  the  acting 
sailing-master,  Edward  Barnewell,  and  the  boatswain, 
Edward  Linscott,  of  the  Essex,  got  springs  on  her 
cables  three  different  times  to  enable  her  to  bring  her 
broadside  to  bear,  but  each  time  they  were  shot  away. 
The  frigate  also  had  received  many  injuries,  while  sev 
eral  men' had  been  killed  or  wounded. 

At  thirty-five  minutes  past  five  the  British  ships, 
having  been  out  of  range  over  an  hour,  again  advanced 
to  the  attack.  Availing  themselves  of  the  Essex's  mis 
fortune,  they  took  positions  off  her  starboard  quarter, 
out  of  reach  of  her  carronades,  and  where  the  stern 
guns  could  not  be  brought  to  bear,  and  opened  a 
heavy  fire.  Finding  that  it  was  impossible  to  re 
turn  the  enemy's  fire,  Captain  Porter  determined  to 
become  the  assailant,  and  ordered  the  cables  to  be 
cut.  It  was  then  discovered  that  nearly  all  the  run 
ning  rigging  had  been  carried  away,  the  flying-jib 
halyards  being  the  only  ropes  in  a  condition  to  hoist 
sail.  After  many  fruitless  attempts  to  make  sail, 
the  jib  was  set  and  gradually  brought  the  Essex's 
formidable  broadside  into  play.  The  frigate  then 
opened  a  heavy  fire,  with  such  effect  that  in  a  few  mo 
ments  the  Cherub  took  herself  out  of  the  reach  of  the 
carronades,  and  did  not  again  come  into  close  quarters, 
Captain  Tucker  preferring  to  fight  at  long  range, 
where  he  could  fire  at  the  Essex  with  impunity.  The 
PJicebe  also,  now  that  the  Essex  could  bring  her  short 
guns  into  play,  thought  better  of  her  ardor,  and,  avail- 

39 


568  THE   HEROIC   DEFENSE   OF  THE  ESSEX.  1814. 

ing  herself  of  the  comparatively  uninjured  state  of  her 
rigging,  stood  off  at  long  range. 

It  is  interesting  in  this  connection  to  call  to  mind 
the  statement  of  Sir  Howard  Douglas  in  reference  to 
American  commanders  preferring  to  fight  at  long  range. 
"  The  United  States  commanders  so  circumspectly  and 
cautiously  adapted  their  tactics  to  the  superior  power 
of  their  armaments,  that,  even  when  opposed  to  very 
inferior  numbers  and  quality  of  ordnance,  they  would 
neither  approach  nor  permit  us  to  join  in  close  battle 
until  they  had  gained  some  decisive  advantage  from 
the  superior  faculties  of  their  long  guns  in  distant  can 
nonade,  and  from  the  intrepid,  uncircumspect,  and  often 
very  exposed  approach  of  assailants  who  had  long 
been  accustomed  to  contemn  all  manoeuvring,  and  who 
only  considered  how  to  rush  soonest  into  yardarm  ac 
tion.  Such,  unquestionably,  was  the  character  of  these 
proceedings  [L  e.,  naval  operations  between  the  United 
States  and  Great  Britain].  The  uncircumspect  gal 
lantry  of  our  [English]  commanders  led  our  ships  un 
guardedly  into  snares  which  wary  caution  had  spread." * 

By  this  time  the  Essex  was  severely  damaged, 
many  of  her  carronades  were  dismounted,  and  the 
slaughter  had  become  horrible.  One  gun  was  manned 
three  times,  and  fifteen  men  were  killed  at  it.  Seeing 
that  the  enemy  would  not  come  to  close  quarters, 
where  he  could  fire  in  return,  Captain  Porter  deter 
mined  to  run  his  ship  aground,  and,  having  destroyed 
her,  escape  to  the  shore  with  his  men.  Accordingly 
she  was  headed  for  the  land,  but  while  she  was  still 
half  a  mile  away  the  wind  shifted  and  payed  her 
head  down  on  the  Phoebe,  when  she  was  again  exposed 
to  raking  broadsides.  During  this  manoeuvre  the 
enemy  cautiously  followed  at  long  range,  careful  to 
keep  out  of  reach  of  the  carronades.  At  this  moment 
Master-Commandant  Downes,  from  the  Essex  Junior, 

1  Sir  Howard  Douglas  on  Naval  Gunnery,  p.  533. 


1814.  DESPERATE   CONDITION  OF  THE  ESSEX.  569 

which  vessel,  according  to  orders,  had  regained  the 
port,  being  useless  against  men-of-war,  came  aboard 
for  orders,  and  after  a  hurried  consultation  it  was  de 
cided  to  anchor,  in  hope  that  the  wind  would  carry 
the  enemy  out  of  range,  and  the  hawser  was  bent  to 
the  sheet  anchor  and  let  go.  This  had  the  effect  of 
bringing  the  frigate  around,  but  at  the  next  moment 
the  cable  parted,  again  leaving  her  at  the  enemy's 
mercy.  To  add  to  their  disasters,  an  explosion  now 
occurred  below  decks,  and  soon  afterward  smoke  and 
flames  were  bursting  from  the  hatchway.  As  the  fire 
was  near  the  magazine,  threatening  to  blow  up  the 
ship  at  any  moment,  Captain  Porter  gave  those  who 
wished  to  incur  the  risk  permission  to  swim  ashore. 
A  number  availed  themselves  of  this,  and  some  gained 
the  land,  but  many  were  drowned.  The  greater  part 
of  the  crew  preferred  sharing  with  him  the  fate  of  the 
ship. 

Further  resistance  wras  now  a  useless  waste  of  life, 
for  the  Essex  was  being  hulled  at  every  shot,  while  she 
could  not  strike  a  blow  in  return.  Captain  Porter 
summoned  a  council  of  war,  but  it  was  found  that 
Lieutenant  Stephen  Decatur  M'Knight  was  the  only 
surviving  officer  in  the  ship.  Lieutenant  James  P. 
Wilmer,  while  getting  the  sheet  anchor  from  the 
bow,  had  been  knocked  overboard  by  a  splinter  and 
drowned  ;  Acting- Lieutenant  John  Gf.  Cowel  was  mor 
tally  wounded ;  and  Midshipman  William  H.  Oden- 
heimer  had  also  been  carried  overboard  by  a  huge 
splinter.  Edward  Barnewell,  acting  sailing-master, 
after  receiving  serious  wounds  on  the  face  and  chest, 
had  been  carried  below.  The  steerage,  wardroom, 
berth  deck  and  cockpit  were  crowded  with  the  man 
gled  dead  and  wounded,  and  many  of  the  latter  were 
killed  while  the  surgeon  was  attending  them.  Of  the 
two  hundred  and  fifty-five  souls  of  the  ship's  company 
only  seventy-five,  including  officers,  were  fit  for  duty. 
In  the  face  of  these  awful  facts,  Captain  Porter  had  no 


5YO  THE  HEROIC   DEFENSE  OF   THE   ESSEX.  1814. 

alternative  but  to  surrender,  and  at  6.20  p.  M.,1  after  an 
heroic  defense  of  two  hours  and  twenty  minutes,  the 
order  was  given.  In  his  official  report  Captain  Porter 
praised  the  gallantry  of  rill  his  officers,  and  especially 
of  Lieutenants  M'Knight  and  Wilmer ;  Acting-Lieu 
tenants  Odenheimer  and  Cowel ;  Samuel  B.  Johnston, 
of  the  marines  ;  Midshipmen  George  W.  Isaacs,  David 
G.  Farragut  and  Henry  W.  Ogden  ;  Acting-Midshipmen 
James  Terry,  James  R.  Lyman  and  Samuel  Dusenbury ; 
Acting-Sailing-Master  Edward  Barnewell ;  Master' s- 
Mate  William  Pierce  ;  Acting-Purser  M.  W.  Bostwick  ; 
and  the  boatswain,  Edward  Linscott.  Ac  ting- Surgeon 
Richard  K.  Hoffman,  Acting  Surgeon's-Mate  Alexander 
Montgomery  and  the  chaplain,  D.  P.  Adams,  also  were 
highly  commended.  "The  defense  of  the  Essex"  said 
Captain  Hillyar  in  his  official  report,  "  taking  into  con 
sideration  our  superiority  of  force,  the  very  discour 
aging  circumstance  of  her  having  lost  her  main  topmast 
and  being  twice  on  fire,  did  honor  to  her  brave  defend 
ers,  and  most  fully  evinced  the  courage  of  Captain  Por 
ter  and  those  under  his  command.  Her  colors  were 
not  struck  until  the  loss  in  killed  or  wounded  was  so 
awfully  great,  and  her  shattered  condition  so  seriously 
bad,  as  to  render  further  resistance  unavailing." 

The  Essex,  mounted  forty  short  32-pounders  and  six 
long  12-pounders,  giving  her  a  total  of  forty-six  guns 
and  twelve  hundred  and  fifty-seven  pounds  actual 
weight  of  metal.  The  PJicebe,  according  to  English 
accounts,  carried  twenty-six  long  18-pounders,  four 
long  9-pounders,  fourteen  short  32-pounders,  one  short 
18-pounder,  and  one  short  12-pounder,  making  in  all 
forty- six  guns  and  nine  hundred  and  eighty- two  pounds 
of  metal ;  besides  this,  she  carried  four  swivels  in  her 
tops.  The  Cherub  carried  eighteen  short  32-pounders, 
six  short  18-pounders,  two  long  6-pounders  and  one 

1  Official  report  of  Captain  Porter ;  also  official  report  of  Captain  Hill 
yar.     The  latter  says  that  the  firing  began  "  a  little  past  4." 


1814.  COMPARATIVE  FORCES  AND   LOSSES.  571 

short  12-pounder,  giving  a  total  of  twenty-seven  guns 
and  seven  hundred  and  eight  pounds  of  metal.  Out  of 
her  complement  of  two  hundred  and  fifty-five  men  the 
Essex  had  fifty-eight  killed,  sixty-six  wounded  and 
thirty- one  missing,  probably  drowned  in  attempting  to 
swim  ashore  ;  making  a  total  of  one  hundred  and  fifty- 
five.  The  PTicebe  lost  four  killed,  including  First- 
Lieutenant  William  Ingram,  and  seven  wounded  out 
of  her  crew  of  three  hundred.  The  Cherub's  crew 
numbered  one  hundred  and  twenty-one,  and  she  had 
one  killed  and  three  wounded. 

Comparative  force  and  loss. 

Guns.        Lbs.       Crew.    Killed.  Wounded.  Missing.    Total. 

Essex :       46      1,257     255       58          66          31        155  )      Time 
British  :      73      1,690     421         5          10  15  \  2h.  20m. 

As  this  action  was  fought  at  long  range,  the  British 
selecting  their  distance  so  as  to  keep  out  of  reach  of 
the  Essex's  short  guns,  it  would  be  more  accurate  to 
give  only  the  long  guns  of  the  opposing  forces  : 

Comparative  forces  at  long  range. 

Guns.        Lbs.       Crew.    Killed.  Wounded.  Missing.    Total. 

Essex :         6         72       255        58          66          31        155  )      Time 
British  :     38        624       421          5          10  15  f  2h.  20m. 

The  Essex  was  literally  cut  to  pieces,  and  had  she 
been  at  a  distance  from  port  she  would  have  sunk.  The 
Pkcebe  received  seven  heavy  shot  between  wind  and 
water,  and  one  about  three  feet  under  water,  while  her 
main  and  mizzen  masts  and  her  sails  and  rigging  were 
seriously  injured.  The  Cherub  received  several  shot  in 
the  hull,  some  of  her  lower  shrouds  were  cut  through, 
and  her  main-topmast  stay  and  most  of  her  running 
rigging  were  carried  away. 

No  one  can  question  Captain  Hillyar's  gallantry, 
for  his  record  as  a  naval  officer  during  the  preceding 
ten  years  was  highly  creditable  ;  but  another  phase  of 
his  conduct  forces  itself  upon  our  attention.  We  have 


572 


THE   HEROIC   DEFENSE  OF   THE  ESSEX. 


1814. 


seen  that  on  the  day  of  the  battle  he  did  not  hesitate 
to  violate  the  neutrality  of  the  port.  This  fact,  to 
gether  with  the  attendant  and  subsequent  circum 
stances  of  his  so  nearly  fouling  the  Essex  when  she 
was  anchored  in  the  harbor,  February  8th,  compels  us 
to  believe  that  on  that  occasion  he  intended  to  attack 
the  Essex  while,  as  he  supposed,  most  of  her  crew  was 
on  shore,  and  that  he  was  only  deterred  from  such 
attack  when  he  unexpectedly  found  her  in  perfect 
readiness  to  receive  him.  Captain  Hillyar  has  left  a 
stain  upon  his  record  by  his  attack  on  the  Essex  in  a 
neutral  port,  and  when  she  was  uso  near  the  shore 
that  some  of  the  shot  even  struck  among  the  citizens."1 


City  of  Valparaiso. 

In  striking  contrast  is  the  course  pursued  by  Captain 
Porter.  When  the  Plicebe  so  nearly  fouled  the  Essex — 
with  the  intention  of  attacking,  as  Captain  Porter  and 
his  officers  fully  believed — the  American  commander 
had  it  in  his  power  to  rake  the  Plicebe  with  his  entire 
broadside,  while  the  Essex  Junior  held  a  commanding 
position  astern,  and  the  Cherub  was  too  far  away  to 

1  Washington  Irving,  Spanish  Papers,  voi.  ii,  p.  111. 


1814.  THE  RETURN   HOME,  573 

render  assistance  ;  but,  in  spite  of  these  circumstances, 
Captain  Porter  respected  the  neutrality  of  the  port  and 
forebore.  In  the  action  of  the  28th  of  March,  Captain 
Porter  proved  himself  an  officer  of  rare  ability  and 
consummate  courage.  The  noble  defense  of  the  Essex 
against  such  overwhelming  odds  has  but  few  equals  in 
the  annals  of  naval  history.  He  fought  like  a  lion  at 
bay,  and  his  officers  poured  out  their  life's  blood  at  his 
bidding,  while  the  men  sacrificed  life  and  limb  rather 
than  surrender. 

The  Essex  Junior,  by  an  agreement  between  Cap 
tain  Porter  and  Captain  Hillyar,  was  made  a  cartel  and 
sent  to  the  United  States  with  the  survivors.  Arriving 
off  Sandy  Hook,  July  5,  1814,  the  ship  was  brought  to 
by  the  British  razee  Saturn,  Captain  Nash.  The  Eng 
lish  commander  questioned  Captain  Hillyar's  authority 
to  enter  into  such  an  arrangement,  and  in  the  delay 
that  ensued  Captain  Porter  informed  the  British  lieu 
tenant  in  charge  that  if  the  ship  was  detained  he  would 
consider  himself  released  from  his  parole  and  again  a 
prisoner  of  war.  As  they  were  not  allowed  to  proceed 
immediately,  Captain  Porter  with  a  few  men  quietly 
got  into  a  boat  on  the  leeward  side  of  the  Essex  Junior 
and  pulled  some  distance  toward  the  shore  before  he 
was  discovered.  As  soon  as  the  escape  was  made 
known  the  Saturn  bore  down  on  the  fugitives,  but  just 
before  she  reached  them  a  dense  fog  settled  over  the 
water,  completely  enveloping  the  Americans,  so  that, 
by  changing  her  course,  the  boat  succeeded  in  eluding 
her  pursuers,  and  although  at  one  time  she  was  so  near 
as  to  distinguish  voices  on  board  the  Saturn,  she  made 
her  escape.  After  rowing  all  night  the  party  landed 
at  Babylon,  Long  Island,  where  Captain  Porter  was 
taken  for  a  spy,  and  so  strange  and  incredible  seemed 
the  account  he  gave  of  himself  to  the  people  of  that 
village  that  it  was  some  time  before  he  was  released. 
The  travel-worn  adventurers  now  secured  a  horse  and 
wagon,  by  which  means  they  journeyed  to  Brooklyn, 


574  THE   HEROIC   DEFENSE  OF   THE  ESSEX.  1814. 

and  thence  to  New  York.  At  the  latter  place  Captain 
Porter  found  his  comrades,  the  Essex  Junior  having 
been  allowed  to  enter  the  harbor.  The  few  survivors 
of  the  gallant  three  hundred  and  nineteen  that  sailed 
in  the  Essex  October  28,  1812,  were  met  with  every 
demonstration  of  joy.  The  people  took  the  horses 
from  Captain  Porter's  carriage  and  hauled  him  to  his 
lodgings,  and  an  entertainment  was  given  to  the  crew 
of  the  Essex  at  Tammany  Hall.  At  Philadelphia  Cap 
tain  Porter  was  received  by  the  mayor  and  a  military 
escort.  The  great  throng  of  people  took  the  horses 
from  the  carriage  and  drew  the  hero  to  the  Mansion 
House,  where  the  sailors  took  him  on  their  shoulders 
and  carried  him  in. 

Scarcely  had  the  Essex  disappeared  below  the  hori 
zon,  December  12,  1813,  when  the  savages  on  the  island 
of  Nukahiva  became  troublesome  and  showed  signs  of 
hostility,  and  at  last  Lieutenant  John  M.  Gamble  found 
it  necessary  to  land  and  overpower  them.  On  the  28th 
of  February,  1814,  one  of  the  marines,  John  Wetter, 
was  drowned,  which  reduced  their  force  to  twenty-one, 
all  told,  and  a  week  afterward  four  of  the  men  seized  a 
whaleboat  and  deserted.  On  the  12th  of  April,  two 
weeks  after  the  capture  of  the  Essex  at  Valparaiso, 
Lieutenant  Gamble  rigged  the  Seringapatam  and  the 
Sir  Andrew  Hammond,  with  the  intention  of  burning 
the  Greenwich  and  leaving  his  lonely  prison ;  but  by 
this  time  the  survivors  had  become  mutinous,  and  as  a 
precaution  against  them  all  the  arms  were  collected  in 
the  Greenwich.  On  the  7th  of  May  Lieutenant  Gamble 
had  occasion  to  go  aboard  the  Seringapatam,  when  six 
mutineers  rose  upon  him,  wounded  him  in  the  foot 
with  a  pistol-shot,  and,  having  placed  him  in  a  canoe, 
sailed  away  with  the  ship,  thus  reducing  the  number  of 
survivors  on  the  island  to  eight.  On  the  9th  of  May 
the  savages  made  a  fierce  assault,  and  in  repelling  them 
Midshipman  William  W.  Feltus  was  killed  and  three  of 
the  other  Americans  were  wounded,  and  on  the  follow- 


1814.  THE  SURVIVORS  AT   NUKAHIVA.  575 

ing  night  the  wretched  survivors  put  to  sea  in  the  Sir 
Andrew  Hammond.  When  day  broke  it  was  found 
that  there  were  but  four  able  men  in  the  ship,  Lieuten 
ant  Gamble  included,  only  six  cartridges  left,  and  not 
a  shot  to  be  found.  After  seventeen  anxious  days  they 
reached  the  Sandwich  Islands,  where  they  were  cap 
tured  by  the  Cherub,  and  in  this  ship  they  remained 
seven  months  longer  ;  they  finally  reached  New  York, 
via  Rio  de  Janeiro,  late  in  August,  1815,  having  been 
absent  two  years  and  ten  months. 

In  his  cruise  of  seventeen  months  Captain  Porter 
proved  himself  to  be  an  officer  of  great  ability.  During 
the  long  period  the  Essex  kept  the  sea  he  had  not 
drawn  a  dollar  from  the  national  treasury  ;  he  had  cap 
tured  four  thousand  tons  of  shipping,  captured  or  re 
captured  nearly  four  hundred  prisoners,  and  annihilated 
British  commerce  in  that  part  of  the  globe.  Nor  was 
this  all:  for,  had  the  Essex  failed  to  appear  in  the 
Pacific,  many  American  whalers,  which  had  not  even 
heard  of  the  declaration  of  war — as  whalers  kept  the 
sea  from  one  to  four  years  at  a  time — would  have  been 
taken  or  destroyed  by  the  British  privateers  that  Cap 
tain  Porter  seized.  The  timely  warning  given  by  the 
Essex  enabled  them  to  secure  places  of  safety,  so  that 
only  one  was  captured. 

From  a  pecuniary  point  of  view,  also,  this  was  a 
most  successful  cruise.  The  pay  of  our  naval  officers 
and  seamen  at  that  time  was  inadequate,  so  that  prize 
money  was  a  very  considerable  item.  The  pay  table 
was  as  follows :  For  a  captain  of  a  squadron,  $1,200 ; 
for  a  captain  of  a  ship  mounting  more  than  thirty- two 
guns,  $1,200 ;  for  a  captain  of  a  ship  carrying  thirty- 
two  guns  or  less,  $900  ;  for  a  master-commandant,  $720  ; 
for  a  lieutenant  in  command,  $600 ;  for  a  lieutenant,  - 
$480  ;  for  a  surgeon,  $600 ;  for  sailing-masters,  pursers 
and  chaplains,  $400  ;  for  surgeon's  mate,  $360  ;  for  boat 
swains,  gunners,  sailmakers  and  carpenters,  $240  ;  for 
midshipmen,  $228.  The  pay  for  officers  in  our  navy 


576  THE  HEROIC  DEFENSE  OF  THE  ESSEX.  1814. 

to-day  is  :  Rear-admirals,  $6,000  ;  commodores,  §5,000  ; 
captains,  $4,500  ;  commanders,  $3,500  ;  lieutenant- com 
manders  (first  four  years),  $2,800 ;  (after  four  years), 
$3,000;  lieutenants,  $1,800  to  $2,600;  ensigns,  $1,200 
to  $1,400  ;  naval  cadets,  $500  to  $950  ;  paymasters,  sur 
geons  and  engineers,  $1,700  to  $4,400  ;  chaplains,  $2,500 
to  $2,800 ;  boatswains,  gunners,  carpenters  and  sail- 
makers,  $1,200  to  $1,800  ;  the  maximum  pay  of  the  boat 
swains,  carpenters,  etc.,  being  fifty  per  cent  greater 
than  a  "captain  of  a  squadron"  got  early  in  the  cen 
tury.  But  even  our  modern  pay  table  is  far  short  of 
the  sum  paid  by  almost  every  European  naval  power, 
and  is  entirely  inadequate  to  meet  the  heavy  expenses 
to  which  our  officers  are  necessarily  subjected. 


CHAPTER  XIII. 

THE  NAVAL   WAE   IN   1814. 

BY  1814  the  enemy  had  stationed  nearly  a  hundred 
line-of -battle  ships  and  frigates  of  the  largest  class  on 
the  coast  of  the  United  States,  which  made  it  exceed 
ingly  hazardous  for  our  cruisers  to  get  to  sea,  and  al 
most  impossible  to  send  in  prizes.  No  feature  of  the 
naval  War  of  1812  brings  out  in  stronger  light  the  skill 
and  daring  of  the  American  commanders  than  the  man 
ner  in  which  they  put  to  sea  in  the  face  of  English 
squadrons.  Under  the  law  of  1812  the  corvette  Adams, 
which  had  been  blockaded  in  the  Potomac,  was  altered 
to  a  sloop  of  war,  and  lengthened  so  as  to  carry  twenty- 
six  guns.  Tiring  of  the  inglorious  blockade,  her  com 
mander,  Captain  Charles  Morris,  who  had  been  first 
lieutenant  in  the  Constitution  during  her  action  with 
the  Guerriere,  and  had  been  promoted  for  gallantry  on 
that  occasion,  determined  to  run  the  blockade,  and  on 
the  night  of  January  18th,  which  came  on  cloudy,  bois 
terous  and  with  frequent  snow  squalls,  he  got  under 
way  with  a  strong  northwest  wind.  In  order  to  pass 
the  British  ships  at  Hampton  Roads  before  daylight  it 
was  necessary  for  the  Adams  to  maintain  a  high  rate 
of  speed  all  night,  and  as  the  beacon  lights  in  the  bay 
had  been  removed  (for  the  further  annoyance  of  the 
enemy)  this  was  a  feat  involving  no  little  danger. 
Hardly  was  she  well  under  way  when  Captain  Morris 
found  that  the  two  men  whom  he  had  engaged  as  pilots 
were  not  equal  to  their  task,  for  they  soon  lost  their 
bearings  and  differed  in  opinion  as  to  the  whereabouts 
of  the  corvette  and  the  direction  in  which  she  was  head- 

(57?) 


578  THE  NAVAL   WAR  IN   1814.  1814. 

ing.  The  Adams  was  blindly  rushing  through  the 
water  at  twelve  knots  an  hour,  and  this  speed  made  it 
impossible  to  obtain  correct  soundings.  About  eleven 
o'clock  a  light  suddenly  appeared  directly  ahead,  and 
to  avoid  running  ashore  the  ship  was  sent  about  in  the 
hope  of  getting  into  deeper  water,  but  she  ran  into 
shoal  water  and  struck  ground  several  times.  The 
heavy  swells,  however,  lifted  her  over,  and  in  a  few 
minutes  she  again  sounded  deep  water.  Fearing  that 
the  corvette  had  sustained  serious  injury,  Captain  Mor 
ris  called  his  lieutenants  together  for  consultation. 
The  officers,  wrapped  in  their  greatcoats,  assembled 
aft,  and  in  the  nickering  light  of  a  ship's  lantern  and 
amid  flurries  of  snow  they  held  a  midnight  council  of 
war.  The  unanimous  opinion  was  that,  in  spite  of  the 
perils  of  the  situation,  it  was  better  to  continue  in  the 
attempt  to  run  the  blockade  than  to  remain  in  a  monot 
onous  imprisonment,  and  accordingly  the  ship  was 
again  put  under  sail,  and  soon  she  was  bowling  down 
the  bay  at  the  rate  of  twelve  and  a  half  knots  an  hour. 
About  one  o'clock  in  the  morning  she  passed  Lynn- 
haven,  where  two  of  the  British  ships  were  just  distin 
guishable  in  the  darkness,  but  they  evidently  did  not 
discover  the  Adams,  and  she  passed  out  to  sea. 

Following  the  suggestion  of  the  Secretary  of  the 
Navy,  Captain  Morris  headed  eastward,  with  the  view 
of  cruising  near  the  Canary  and  Cape  de  Yerde  Islands. 
On  the  25th  of  March  he  captured  the  Indiaman  Wood- 
bridge^  but  while  he  was  taking  possession  of  her  two 
British  frigates  hove  in  sight  and  compelled  him  to 
abandon  his  prize.  Cruising  along  the  western  coast 
of  Africa,  from  Cape  Mount  to  Cape  Palmas,  he  took 
three  brigs — one  laden  with  wine  and  fruit,  one  with 
fish,  and  one  with  palm  oil  and  ivory.  The  first  two 
were  destroyed,  and  the  third,  having  been  relieved  of 
her  cargo,  was  given  up  to  her  master,  and  the  prisoners 
being  released  on  parole  were  put  aboard  her.  Captain 
Morris  then  sailed  westward  and  ran  into  Savannah  for 


1814.  CHASE  OP  THE  ADAMS.  579 

supplies.  Sailing  again  on  the  8th  of  May,  he  came 
across  a  Jamaica  convoy  near  the  Matanilla  Reef,  but 
finding  the  escort  too  heavy  he  sheered  off,  after  which 
he  shaped  his  course  northeast,  and  on  the  3d  of  July 
made  the  coast  of  Ireland.  On  the  4th  of  July,  off  the 
mouth  of  the  river  Shannon,  the  Adams  was  chased  by 
the  British  frigate  Tigris,  and  before  sunset  the  enemy 
had  proved  herself  to  be  the  better  sailer  of  the  two  and 
was  almost  within  gunshot.  In  the  night  it  fell  calm, 
and  Captain  Morris,  who  had  materially  aided  in  the  es 
cape  of  the  Constitution  from  Captain  Broke's  squadron 
(July,  1812),  ordered  his  boats  out  under  the  command 
of  First-Lieutenant  Alexander  Scammel  Wadsworth, 
who  also  had  been  in  the  Constitution  under  Captain 
Hull,  and  began  towing,  so  that  by  morning  the  enemy 
was  six  miles  astern.  This  lead  enabled  the  Adams  to 
make  her  escape,  although  she  was  compelled  to  sacri 
fice  her  anchors  and  some  guns  that  had  been  taken 
from  prizes. 

On  the  19th  of  July  the  Adams  was  chased  by  two 
frigates,  one  of  which  for  forty  hours  was  just  out  of 
gunshot,  in  which  time  the  vessels  covered  four  hun 
dred  miles  without  perceptibly  increasing  or  diminish 
ing  the  distance  between  them.  On  the  second  night 
of  the  chase  Captain  Morris  took  advantage  of  a  squall, 
and  by  changing  his  course  lost  sight  of  the  enemy. 

After  these  narrow  escapes  the  Adams  made  for 
America.  Approaching  Newfoundland  she  experienced 
continuously  moist  weather,  which,  together  with  the 
lack  of  fresh  provisions,  brought  on  scurvy,  so  that  by 
the  25th  of  July  several  of  the  men  died  from  it,  thirty 
were  unfit  for  duty,  and  the  entire  ship's  company  was 
aifected.  By  the  16th  of  August  the  sick  list  was  in 
creased  to  fifty-eight,  and  Captain  Morris  found  it  im 
perative  to  return  to  the  nearest  American  port,  and 
changed  his  course  for  the  coast  of  Maine.  At  four 
o'clock  on  the  morning  of  August  17th,  while  the  Adams 
was  making  from  ten  to  eleven  knots  an  hour  in  a  dense 


580  THE   NAVAL  WAR  IN  1814.  1814. 

fog,  the  lookout  announced  breakers  ahead,  and  a  mo 
ment  later  the  ship  ran  upon  a  ledge  of  rocks.  Notwith 
standing  the  speed  at  which  she  was  rushing  through 
the  water,  the  shock  was  not  severe,  but,  fearing  the 
worst,  Captain  Morris  released  the  prisoners  in  the  hold. 
It  was  found  that  the  ship  was  resting  on  a  slippery 
rock,  and  that  she  had  been  raised  six  feet,  and  on  the 
following  morning,  when  the  sun  dispelled  the  fog,  a 
towering  cliff  was  seen  rising  out  of  the  water  less  than 
a  hundred  yards  ahead.  On  the  return  of  flood  tide 
the  ship  was  floated  off,  and  on  manning  the  pumps  it 
was  found  that  the  leaks  were  not  serious.  Being 
ignorant  of  the  coast,  Captain  Morris  determined  to 
put  to  sea  again,  and  on  the  same  day  he  discovered 
that  he  was  near  Mount  Desert,  instead  of  being  near 
Portland,  as  he  had  supposed.  At  this  moment  the 
English  l(3-gun  brig-sloop  Rifleman  hove  in  sight,  and 
the  Adams  gave  chase,  but  the  heavy  pressure  of  sail 
caused  the  ship  to  leak  so  seriously  that  Captain  Mor 
ris  was  compelled  to  abandon  the  pursuit,  and  the 
Rifleman  escaped  and  brought  the  news  of  the  pres 
ence  of  the  Adams  in  these  waters  to  a  British  squad 
ron  that  was  assembling,  under  the  command  of  Admi 
ral  Griffith,  for  the  purpose  of  making  an  attack  on 
Machias.  Hearing  that  the  Adams  had  retreated  up 
the  Penobscot,  the  British  land  and  naval  force  fol 
lowed  and  destroyed  her  near  Hampden.  But  Cap 
tain  Morris  and  his  officers  and  crew  escaped  to  the 
shore,  and,  breaking  up  into  small  parties,  marched  by 
different  routes  to  Portland. 

In  this  cruise  of  more  than  seven  months  Captain 
Morris  captured  ten  merchantmen,  carrying  in  all  one 
hundred  and  sixty- one  guns.  The  officers  of  the 
Adams,  besides  the  captain,  were  Alexander  Scammel 
Wadsworth,  John  R.  Madison,  Foxhall  A.  Parker, 
Thomas  A.  Beatty,  lieutenants  ;  Samuel  E.  Watson, 
lieutenant  of  marines ;  William  S.  Rogers,  purser ; 
Gerard  Dayers,  surgeon,  and  William  Williamson, 


1814.  ATTACK  ON  THE  ALLIGATOR.  531 

assistant  surgeon  ;  and  Gr.  B.  McCulloch,  sailing-mas 
ter. 

Soon  after  this  Captain  Morris  was  ordered  to  com 
mand  the  36-gun  frigate  Congress,  then  in  Piscataqua, 
some  miles  above  Portsmouth,  but  peace  was  declared 
before  he  could  get  to  sea. 

On  the  29th  of  January,  when  the  small  schooner 
Alligator,  Sailing-Mas ter  Basset,  was  lying  abreast  of 
Cole's  Island,  a  British  frigate  appeared  outside  the 
breakers,  and,  anticipating  a  boat  attack  in  the  night, 
Mr.  Basset  made  dispositions  for  a  sturdy  defense.  At 
7.30  p.  M.  six  boats  were  discovered  pulling  with  muffled 
oars  toward  the  schooner,  and  on  being  hailed,  the  boat 
party  discharged  a  musket,  upon  which  the  Americans 
opened  with  grape  and  musketry.  Availing  himself  of 
a  light  breeze,  Mr.  Basset  cut  his  cables  and  managed 
to  prevent  the  boats  from  coming  alongside,  but  at  the 
same  time  he  held  them  within  reach  of  his  musketry. 
The  Alligator  soon  grounded,  but  fortunately  the 
English  withdrew  before  they  learned  of  the  mishap. 
The  American  loss  was  two  killed  and  two  wounded, 
one  of  the  latter  being  the  pilot,  Robert  Hatch ;  that 
of  the  enemy  was  much  greater.  Mr.  Basset  was  pro 
moted  for  his  gallantry  on  this  occasion.  On  the  fol 
lowing  1st  of  July,  this  little  schooner,  while  lying  in 
Port  Royal  Sound,  in  South  Carolina,  was  capsized, 
carrying  down  with  her  twenty-one  men,  among  whom 
were  Midshipmen  Joseph  Brailesford  and  Robert  Roger- 
son.  The  schooner  was  subsequently  raised.  On  Feb 
ruary  22d  the  schooner  Ferret,  Lieutenant  Lawrence 
Kearny,  was  wrecked  on  the  breakers  of  Stono  Inlet, 
but  all  her  people  were  saved.  In  June,  while  stationed 
off  Charleston,  in  command  of  the  schooner  Nonsuch, 
Lieutenant  Kearny  was  chased  by  a  frigate,  and  only 
escaped  capture  by  throwing  overboard  eleven  guns. 

The  Constitution,  since  her  action  with  the  Java, 
had  been  blockaded  in  Boston,  but  on  the  1st  of  Janu 
ary,  1814,  she  eluded  the  British  squadron  and  got  to 


582  THE  NAVAL  WAR  IN  1814.  1814. 

sea.  Captain  Stewarfc  ran  down  to  the  West  Indies, 
where  he  fell  in  with  the  British  36-gun  frigate  Pique, 
but  in  the  night  the  enemy  succeeded  in  effecting  his 
escape  by  running  through  Mona  Passage.  Having 
captured  the  English  14-gun  schooner  Picton,  Captain 
Stewart  made  for  port,  and  while  approaching  Boston 
he  was  chased  into  Marblehead  by  the  British  frigates 
Tenedos  and  Junon,  but  from  that  place  he  soon  after 
ward  ran  to  Boston.  In  this  cruise  the  Constitution 
captured  four  prizes,  aggregating  twenty-four  guns  and 
seventy-six  men. 

After  the  lamented  death  of  Lieutenant  Burrows  the 
command  of  the  Enterprise  was  intrusted  to  Lieuten 
ant  James  Renshaw,  and  in  the  winter  of  1813-' 14  this 
brig,  in  company  with  the  Rattlesnake ',  Master-Com 
mandant  John  O.  Creighton,  made  an  extended  cruise 
southward,  during  which  the  Enterprise  was  three 
times  chased  by  a  superior  force,  but  she  succeeded  in 
making  her  escape.  While  off  the  coast  of  Florida 
Lieutenant  Renshaw  overhauled  the  English  privateer 
Mars,  of  fourteen  guns,  half  the  crew  of  which,  as  soon 
as  the  Enterprise  was  known  to  be  a  war  vessel,  took 
to  the  boats  and  made  for  the  land.  Ignorant  of  the 
stranger's  force,  Lieutenant  Renshaw  ranged  alongside 
and  poured  in  a  broadside,  which  induced  the  enemy 
to  strike,  he  having  sustained  a  loss  of  four  men  killed 
or  wounded.  On  the  25th  of  April  the  Rattlesnake 
and  the  Enterprise,  being  pursued  by  an  English  frig 
ate,  separated.  The  enemy  made  after  the  Enterprise, 
and  for  seventy  hours  held  her  in  chase,  frequently  get 
ting  within  gunshot.  On  the  morning  of  the  27th,  just 
as  the  enemy  was  again  at  long  range,  it  fell  calm, 
whereupon  Lieutenant  Renshaw  sent  his  boats  ahead 
and  towed  his  vessel  out  of  gunshot.  About  two  hours 
afterward  a  breeze  sprang  up,  which  placed  the  Enter 
prise  to  the  windward,  and,  making  the  most  of  this 
favorable  circumstance,  she  succeeded  in  running  her 
pursuer  out  of  sight.  In  this  exciting  chase  the  Enter- 


1814.  LOSS  OF  THE   FROLIC.  533 

prise  lost  all  but  one  of  her  guns.  On  returning  to 
the  United  States  Lieutenant  Renshaw  was  transferred 
to  the  Rattlesnake,  while  the  Enterprise  was  sent  to 
Charleston  to  act  as  a  coast  guard,  in  which  service  she 
was  employed  for  the  remainder  of  the  war. 

The  Rattlesnake  soon  got  to  sea  again,  and  while 
cruising  in  latitude  40°  North,  longitude  33°  West,  she 
was  chased  by  a  British  frigate,  and  only  escaped  by 
the  sacrifice  of  all  but  two  of  her  guns.  On  the  22d  of 
June,  while  near  Cape  Sable,  she  fell  in  with  the  Brit 
ish  50-gun  ship  Leander,  and  being  between  land  and 
her  powerful  foe,  she  was  captured,  although  Lieuten 
ant  Renshaw  kept  his  colors  flying  until  the  enemy 
was  hulling  him  at  every  shot.  In  this  cruise  the  Rat 
tlesnake  took  eight  prizes. 

Of  the  six  new  sloops  ordered  by  Congress,  January 
2,  1813,  the  Frolic,  Master-Commandant  Joseph  Bain- 
bridge,  was  the  first  to  get  to  sea.  Sailing  from  Ports 
mouth,  1ST.  H.,  she  made  for  the  West  Indies,  and  at 
daylight  on  the  20th  of  April,  while  fifteen  miles  north 
west  of  Matanzas,  Cuba,1  she  fell  in  with  the  36-gun 
frigate  Orpheus,  Captain  H.  Pigot,  and  the  12-gun 
schooner  Slielburne.  After  a  chase  of  sixty  miles, 
during  which  the  Frolic  threw  overboard  all  her  guns, 
shot  and  every  other  heavy  article,  she  was  captured.2 

In  the  summer  of  1813  Captain  Joshua  Barney, 

1  Official  report  of  Captain  Pigot. 

2  In  reference  to  this  surrender  James  says :  "  We  should  not  have 
hesitated  to  call  a  French  or  even  a  British  captain?  who  had  acted  as  Mas 
ter-Commandant  Joseph  Bainbridge,  of  the  United  States  navy,  did  in  this 

instance,  a ."     Taking  James  at  his  word,  we  turn  to  volume  ii,  pages 

354,  355,  and  find  him  referring  to  the  French  privateer  Bordelais  as  an 
extraordinarily  fine  ship  of  twenty-four  guns,  striking  her  colors  to  a 
British  46-gun  frigate  "  without,  as  it  appears,  making  any  resistance  " — 
certainly  without  provoking  any  comment  from  James.    Again,  at  page  95, 
volume  i,  he  speaks  of  the  British  24-gun  ship  Hymna  surrendering  to  a 
French  squadron,  but  in  James'  first  edition,  by  a  mistake,  it  was  repre 
sented  to  have  been  made  to  a  44-gun  frigate — a  mistake,  however,  which 
did  not  provoke  the  application  of  any  expressive  blank  to  the  British  com 
mander. 

40 


584  THE   NAVAL   WAR   IN   1814.  1814. 

famous  in  the  Revolution  for  the  Hyder  Ally  and  Gen 
eral  Moiik  affair,  was  requested  to  take  command  of 
the  flotilla  of  gunboats  then  fitting  out  at  Baltimore  for 
the  defense  of  Chesapeake  Bay  and  its  tributary  waters. 
The  work  of  building  the  boats  occupied  the  summer 
of  1813  and  the  following  winter,  and  on  the  1st  of 
June,  1814,  Captain  Barney  left  the  Patuxent  with  the 
sloop  Scorpion,  two  gunboats,  and  several  barges,  in 
pursuit  of  two  British  schooners.  As  the  wind  was 
light  the  Americans,  by  making  a  free  use  of  their 
sweeps,  were  fast  overhauling  the  chase,  when  a  strong 
breeze  sprang  up  from  the  south,  and,  as  gunboats  were 
useless  in  rough  water,  Captain  Barney  signaled  a  re 
treat.  The  English  turned  upon  their  pursuers  and 
threatened  to  cut  off  one  of  the  gunboats,  upon  which 
the  Scorpion  and  several  barges  put  back,  and  after 
exchanging  a  few  shot  drove  off  the  schooners.  The 
flotilla  then  anchored  three  miles  up  the  river.  On  the 
7th  of  June,  the  enemy  having  been  re-enforced  by  a 
razee  and  a  sloop  of  war,  Captain  Barney  moved  up 
the  Patuxent  to  the  mouth  of  St.  Leonard  Creek.  On 
the  morning  of  the  8th,  a  frigate,  a  brig,  two  schooners 
and  fifteen  barges  were  observed  moving  up  the  Patux 
ent,  apparently  for  the  purpose  of  attacking  the  flotilla. 
Captain  Barney  retreated  two  miles  up  St.  Leonard 
Creek,  where  the  larger  English  vessels  could  not  fol 
low  him,  and  anchored  his  flotilla  in  a  line  across  the 
stream.  By  8  A.  M.  the  enemy  reached  the  creek,  where 
the  frigate,  brig  and  schooners  anchored,  while  their 
barges  were  manned  and  sent  up  the  creek  to  attack 
the  flotilla.  At  the  head  of  their  line  was  a  large  boat 
from  which  they  discharged  Congreve  rockets.  Cap 
tain  Barney  put  all  his  men  in  his  thirteen  barges  and 
dropped  down  to  meet  them,  but,  without  awaiting  the 
attack,  the  British  barges  retreated  to  their  ships.  In 
the  afternoon  they  again  advanced,  with  the  same  re 
sult.  On  the  afternoon  of  the  9th  they  once  more  en 
tered  the  creek,  this  time  with  twenty  barges  and  a 


1814.        SPIRITED   ATTACK   OF  BARNEY'S  GUNBOATS.        585 

strong  re-enforcement  of  men,  but  after  a  sharp  skir 
mish  they  retreated  for  the  third  time.  On  the  11  th, 
twenty-one  barges,  with  two  schooners  in  tow,  advanced 
to  a  fourth  attack.  Captain  Barney's  entire  available 
force  was  his  thirteen  barges  ;  his  sloops  and  two  gun 
boats,  being  unmanageable  in  the  shallow  water,  had 
been  left  farther  up  the  creek.  After  another  sharp 
fight  the  British  were  again  compelled  to  retreat,  and 
the  Americans  pursued  them  until  they  were  under 
cover  of  their  frigate. 

By  this  time  batteries  had  been  erected  along  the 
shores  of  the  creek  and  manned  by  a  considerable  body 
of  militia  under  Colonel  Wadsworth.  Captain  Samuel 
Miller,  of  the  marines,  also  joined  the  flotilla.  On  the 
26th  of  June  Captain  Barney,  learning  that  only  two 
of  the  English  vessels — the  38-gun  frigate  Loire  and 
the  32-gun  frigate  Narcissus — were  stationed  at  the 
mouth  of  St.  Leonard  Creek,  moved  down  with  his  flo 
tilla  to  attack,  and  after  a  vigorous  cannonade  of  two 
hours  the  British  frigates  were  compelled  to  retreat. 
In  this  spirited  affair  the  Americans  lost  two  barges, 
and  thirteen  of  their  number  were  killed  or  wounded. 
The  Loire  received  several  dangerous  shot  in  her  hull, 
but,  owing  to  the  protection  her  sides  afforded,  she  did 
not  lose  a  man.  Soon  after  this  the  British  left  the 
Patuxent  and  began  a  series  of  outrages  on  the  inhab 
itants  of  the  surrounding  country  which  has  left  an 
indelible  stain  on  the  pages  of  English  history.  In 
August  the  enemy  renewed  their  attacks  on  Captain 
Barney's  flotilla,  both  with  a  view  of  destroying  it  and 
as  affording  a  pretext  for  sending  forward  large  bodies 
of  troops,  their  real  design  being  an  attack  on  Wash 
ington.  In  accordance  with  instructions  he  had  re 
ceived  from  Washington,  Captain  Barney,  on  the  22d 
of  August,  burned  his  flotilla,  hastened  with  all  his 
men  to  aid  in  the  defense  of  the  capital,  and  took  quar 
ters  in  the  marine  barracks.  During  the  English  attack 
on  that  city  his  men  conducted  themselves  with  com- 


586  THE  NAVAL   WAR  IN  1814.  1814. 

mendable  steadiness,  and  for  this  service  he  received  a 
sword  from  the  city  of  Washington. 

By  the  capture  of  Washington  the  navy  lost  the  44- 
gun  frigate  Columbia  and  the  18-gun  sloop  Argus, 
both  of  which  were  burned  on  the  stocks,  besides  which 
the  condemned  Boston  and  all  the  naval  stores  there 
collected  were  destroyed.  It  is  remarkable  that  the 
British,  in  all  their  incursions  on  our  territory,  suc 
ceeded  in  destroying  only  two  of  the  national  cruisers. 
Strenuous  exertions  were  made  by  Captain  Rodgers  with 
the  crew  of  the  new  44-gun  frigate  Guerriere,  assisted 
by  Lieutenants  Henry  S.  Newcomb,  James  Ramage, 
Forrest  and  Robert  Field  Stockton,  at  Philadelphia ; 
by  Captain  Perry,  of  the  new  44-gun  frigate  Java,  at 
Baltimore  ;  and  by  Captain  Porter,  to  intercept  the 
British  vessels  in  their  retreat.  But  such  was  the  haste 
of  the  enemy  that  the  necessary  guns  and  ammunition 
could  not  be  procured  in  time.  Several  skirmishes  re 
sulted  from  these  efforts,  and  various  attempts  were 
made  with  fire-ships,  but  with  no  important  result. 

In  September  the  British  made  an  attack  on  Balti 
more,  but  were  repelled.  On  this  occasion  the  Ameri 
can  seamen  rendered  invaluable  service.  Eighty  men 
of  the  Guerriere,  under  Lieutenant  H.  S.  Newcomb, 
manned  Fort  Covington,  while  Sailing- Master  Webster, 
with  fifty  men  of  the  flotilla,  worked  the  6- gun  battery 
Babcock  with  creditable  steadiness  and  skill.  The 
barges,  under  Midshipman  Solomon  Rutter,  won  much 
applause  for  the  manner  in  which  they  repelled  the 
enemy's  assaults.  Captain  Spence  also  distinguished 
himself  in  this  affair. 

On  the  12th  of  June  the  boats  of  the  32-gun  frigate 
Narcissus,  Captain  John  R.  Lumley,  under  the  com 
mand  of  Lieutenant  John  Cririe,  with  Lieutenant  of 
Marines  Patrick  Savage,  were  sent  up  York  River  to 
attack  the  United  States  schooner  Surveyor,  mounting 
six  12-pound  carronades  and  having  on  board  only  six 
teen  men.  The  vessel  was  boarded  and  carried  in  the 


1814.  THE   YORK  RIVER  EXPEDITION.  587 

face  of  a  severe  fire  of  musketry,  but  at  a  loss  to  the 
British  of  three  men  killed  and  six  wounded.  The  de 
fense  of  the  American  vessel  was  so  gallant  that  Lieu 
tenant  Cririe  returned  the  American  commander's 
sword,  paying  him  many  compliments. 

About  three  o'clock  on  the  morning  of  October 
6,  1814,  Sailing-Master  Paine,  while  convoying  some 
coasting  vessels  from  Savannah  to  St.  Mary's  in  gun 
boat  No.  160,  was  attacked  in  St.  Andrew's  Sound  by 
a  tender  and  ten  boats.  Mr.  Paine  had  only  sixteen 
men  of  his  crew  of  thirty  fit  for  duty,  and  was  over 
powered  after  a  stubborn  defense  in  which  he  and  two 
of  his  crew  were  badly  wounded.  While  in  command 
at  North  Edisto,  January,  1815,  Captain  John  H.  Dent 
ordered  Lieutenant  Lawrence  Kearny  to  take  three 
barges  and  attack  a  party  of  English  officers  and 
men  who  had  come  ashore  from  the  British  cruiser 
Cerberus,  Captain  Palmer,  for  the  purpose  of  getting 
a  supply  of  water.  The  Americans  made  a  dash  at 
the  enemy,  and,  notwithstanding  a  galling  fire  from 
the  cruiser,  they  captured  the  tender,  which  was  armed 
with  a  carronade  and  six  brass  swivels,  and  a  launch, 
which  were  taken  into  South  Edisto.  About  forty 
prisoners  were  made.  A  man  who  was  standing  beside 
Lieutenant  Kearny  had  his  head  taken  off  by  one  of 
the  Cerberus'  round  shot.  Shortly  after  this  Lieuten 
ant  Kearny  put  out  in  the  captured  launch  with  twenty- 
five  men,  and  carried  off  a  tender  belonging  to  the 
cruiser  Severn  with  about  thirty-five  men. 

The  second  of  the  six  new  sloops  to  get  to  sea  was 
the  Peacock,  Master-Commandant  Lewis  Warrington. 
Sailing  from  New  York  on  the  12th  of  March,  the  Pea 
cock  went  as  far  south  as  the  Great  Isaacs,  and  then 
skirted  along  the  coast  of  Florida  to  Cape  Canaveral. 
On  Friday  morning,  April  29th,  in  latitude  27°  47' 
North,  longitude  80°  9'  West,  three  merchant  ships  and 
a  large  brig  of  war  were  descried  to  windward.  On 
making  out  the  Peacock,  the  merchantmen  drew  away, 


588  THE  NAVAL  WAR  IN   1814.  1814. 

while  their  escort  bore  down  to  reconnoiter.  The  Pea 
cock  then  showed  English  colors  and  allowed  the  stran 
ger  to  approach,  and  at  9  A.  M.  the  brig  signaled  the  mer 
chant  vessels,  and  soon  afterward  they  were  hurrying 
away  in  different  directions.  In  the  meantime  the  Pea 
cock  was  rapidly  nearing  her  foe,  and  at  9.40  A.  M.  she 
hauled  down  the  English  colors  and  ran  up  her  own. 
By  10  A.  M.  the  vessels  were  within  half  gunshot,  but 
neither  of  them  had  opened  fire.  Master-Commandant 
Warrington  now  manoeuvred  to  secure  a  raking  posi 
tion,  but  the  enemy  avoided  this  by  putting  up  his  helm 
until  close  on  the  Peacock ]s  bow,  when,  hauling  up  to 
the  wind,  he  fired  his  starboard  broadside,  and  the 
Americans  replied  with  their  port  battery.  At  the 
first  fire  the  Peacock  received  two  32-pound  shot  in  the 
quarter  of  her  foreyard,  which  disabled  the  fore  and 
fore-topsail  for  the  remainder  of  the  action.  This  mis 
hap  compelled  Master-Commandant  Warrington  to 
forego  manoeuvring  and  to  rely  entirely  on  his  gun 
nery.  Orders  were  now  given  to  load  with  star  and 
bar  shot,  with  a  view  to  crippling  the  enemy's  rigging, 
so  that  he  could  not  profit  by  the  Peacock's  disabled 
foreyard.  In  a  few  minutes  the  American  foreyard 
gave  way  and  the  antagonists  drew  closer,  which  ren 
dered  their  fire  very  destructive.  About  10.40  A.  M. 
the  enemy  lost  his  head  sails,  and  at  the  same  time  his 
main  boom,  having  been  shot  through,  fell  upon  the 
wheel.  This  brought  the  wind  on  his  beam,  exposing 
him  to  a  raking  fire  from  the  Peacock,  but  the  latter 
had  too  much  headway  to  avail  herself  of  the  advan 
tage  except  by  throwing  in  two  or  three  shot.  Then 
hauling  close  under  his  opponent's  lee,  Master-Comman 
dant  Warrington  poured  in  a  hot  fire,  which  was 
chiefly  directed  at  the  enemy's  hull,  and  soon  her 
main  topmast  went  over.  At  11  A.  M.  she  attempted  to 
wear  around  so  as  to  bring  a  fresh  broadside  to  bear, 
and  this  brought  the  vessels  so  close  that  the  British 
commander  was  heard  urging  his  men  to  attempt 


1814.  PEACOCK-EPERVIER  FIGHT.  539 

boarding;  but,  says  James,  "the  British  crew  de 
clined  a  measure  so  fraught  with  danger."  The  battle 
had  now  lasted  forty-five  minutes,  and  the  brig  struck. 
On  being  boarded,  the  stranger  was  found  to  be  the 
British  brig- sloop  Epermer,  Captain  Richard  Wales. 

The  Peacock,  like  all  the  new  sloops,  mounted 
. twenty  short  32-pounders  and  two  long  12-pounders,1 
making  twenty-two  guns  and  three  hundred  and  nine 
pounds  to  the  broadside.  The  Epermer,  according  to 
James,  mounted  sixteen  short  32-pounders  and  two 
short  18-pounders,  making  a  total  of  eighteen  guns  and 
two  hundred  and  seventy-four  pounds  to  the  broadside. 
Out  of  her  crew  of  one  hundred  and  sixty  men  the 
Peacock  had  but  two  wounded,  while  of  the  Epermer's 
crew,  which  numbered  one  hundred  and  twenty-eight, 
eight  were  killed,  including  First-Lieutenant  Hackett, 
and  fifteen  wounded.2  During  this  brilliant  action 
the  Peacock  did  not  receive  a  shot  in  her  hull, 
the  only  considerable  injury  being  that  to  her  fore- 
yard.  "  In  fifteen  minutes  after  the  enemy  struck," 
wrote  Master  Commandant  Warrington,  "  the  Peacock 
was  ready  for  another  action  in  every  respect  but  her 
foreyard,  which  was  sent  down,  fished,  and  had  the 
foresail  set  again  in  forty-five  minutes."  The  Eper- 
mer  was  cut  to  pieces,  there  being  but  one  gun  that 
was  not  disabled  on  the  engaged  side,  while  five  feet  of 
water  was  in  her  hold.  Her  fore  rigging,  stays  and 
main  boom  were  shot  away,  her  bowsprit  badly  wound 
ed,  and  her  foremast  cut  nearly  in  two  and  left  totter 
ing,  while  her  main  topmast  was  over  the  side.  Her 
hull  was  pierced  with  forty-five  shot  holes  on  the  port 
side,  twenty  of  which  were  within  a  foot  of  the  water 
line.  The  one  hundred  and  twenty  thousand  dollars  in 
specie  found  in  her  was  removed  to  the  Peacock.  Every 


1  Emmons'  Statistical  History  of  the  United  States  Navy,  p.  58. 

2  Official  report   of   Master-Commandant  Warrington ;    also  James' 
History  of  the  British  Navy,  vol.  vi,  p.  1GO. 


590  THE   NAVAL  WAR   IN  1814.  1814. 

exertion  was  now  made  to  keep  the  prize  afloat,  and 
by  sunset  the  most  dangerous  shot  holes  were  plugged 
and  the  brig  put  under  sail. 

Comparative  force  and  loss. 

Guns.  Lbs.  Crew.    Killed.   Wounded.  Total. 

Peacock:      22  309  160          0  22)      Time 

Epervier:     18  274  128          8          15        23    i      45m. 

Master-Commandant  Warrington  wrote  :  "The Eper 
vier  is  one  of  their  finest  brigs,  and  is  well  calculated 
for  our  service.  She  sails  extremely  well."  She  was 
built  in  1812,  and  it  is  said  that  when  she  left  London 
"  the  betting  was  three  to  one  that  she  would  take  an 
American  sloop  of  war  or  a  small  frigate."  Both  ves 
sels  were  of  the  same  measurements,  except  that  the 
Epervier  wTas  eleven  feet  shorter. 

This  action  adds  another  to  the  long  list  of  instances 
in  which  American  gunnery  proved  its  superiority 
over  that  of  the  English.  It  hardly  seems  credible 
that  in  a  hotly  contested  action  of  forty-five  minutes, 
at  close  quarters  and  in  smooth  water,  there  could 
have  been  such  a  vast  difference  in  damage  between 
vessels  both  of  which  sought  an  engagement,  yet  such 
difference  is  admitted  on  both  sides.  These  vessels 
were  admirably  matched,  there  being  only  thirty-five 
pounds  in  favor  of  the  Peacock's  broadside.  The 
Epermer's  gunnery  must  have  been  execrable,  while 
the  Peacock  fired  with  wonderful  accuracy.  Master- 
Commandant  Warrington  wrote  that  the  fire  from  the 
divisions  commanded  by  Second-Lieutenant  Henly  and 
Midshipman  Philip  F.  Yoorhees  was  terrible,  and 
was  directed  with  the  greatest  precision  and  coolness. 
Sir  Edward  Codrington,  in  a  private  letter,  speaking 
of  this  affair,  says :  "  It  seems  that  the  Peacock,  Ameri 
can  sloop  of  war,  of  what  size  I  know  not,  has  taken 
our  Epervier.  But  the  worst  part  of  our  story  is,  that 
our  sloop  was  cut  to  pieces,  and  the  other  scarcely 
scratched  !  I  do  not  know  the  captain  or  his  character 


1814.  A  NAVAL  STRATAGEM.  591 

in  the  service  ;  but  I  well  know  that  the  system  of 
favoritism  and  borough  influence  prevails  so  very  much 
that  many  people  are  promoted  and  kept  in  commands 
that  should  be  dismissed  from  the  service.  And  while 
such  is  the  case,  the  few  Americans  chosen  for  their 
merit  may  be  expected  to  follow  up  their  successes, 
except  where  they  meet  with  our  best  officers  on  equal 
terms.  It  is  said  that  that  fellow  -  — 's  people  showed 
no  spirit  until  he  was  wounded  and  carried  below. 
Something  of  the  same  sort  attaches  to  the  name  of 
Captain  -  — ,  whose  ship  did  not  do  as  well  as  her 
reputed  discipline  promised.'' 

The  Epermer  was  placed  under  the  command  of 
Lieutenant  John  B.  Nicholson,  first  lieutenant  of  the 
Peacock,  with  orders  to  make  for  the  nearest  American 
port,  and,  knowing  that  the  coast  was  swarming  with 
British  cruisers,  Master-Commandant  Warrington  de 
termined  to  accompany  his  prize.  On  the  afternoon 
of  the  following  day — April  30th — when  the  two  vessels 
were  abreast  of  Amelia  Island,  a  frigate  was  discov 
ered  bearing  down  on  them.  At  the  request  of  Lieu 
tenant  Nicholson,  whose  vessel  was  nearest  to  the  ene 
my,  the  captured  crew  of  the  Epermer  was  transferred 
to  the  Peacock,  while  he  with  sixteen  men  remained  in 
the  brig.,  The  Epermer  then  steered  southward  close 
inshore,  with  the  intention  of  making  St.  Mary's,  while 
the  Peacock  stood  temptingly  out  to  sea,  across  the 
frigate's  course.  By  this  plan  it  was  hoped  to  draw 
the  enemy  in  chase  of  the  swift-sailing  Peacock,  thus 
enabling  the  crippled  Epermer  to  escape.*  The  ruse 
was  successful,  and  on  the  following  day  the  Peacock, 
having  lured  the  enemy  far  enough  away  from  the 
Epermer,  put  on  more  sail  and  soon  left  the  British 
commander  to  soliloquize  at  his  leisure  on  the  "  singu 
lar  ingenuity  of  these  people,"  as  Captain  Symond,  of 
the  English  navy,  expressed  it.  While  endeavoring 
to  reach  Savannah,  the  Epermer  fell  in  with  another 
frigate,  and  as  the  wind  was  light  the  enemy  manned 


592  THE  NAVAL  WAR  IN  1814.  1814. 

his  boats  and  sent  them  against  her.  The  situation  of 
the  brig  was  now  critical,  for  Lieutenant  Nicholson  had 
but  sixteen  men  with  whom  to  repel  the  attack.  Ow 
ing  to  this  deficiency  in  numbers  a  stratagem  was  re 
sorted  to.  Waiting  until  the  British  boats  were  quite 
near,  he  suddenly  ran  out  his  guns,  and,  using  his 
trumpet  as  if  his  vessel  was  full  of  men,  gave  the  or 
der  to  yaw  and  fire  a  broadside.  This  unexpected 
readiness  to  fight  induced  the  boats  to  postpone  the 
attack  until  re-enforcements  came  up  ;  but  while  they 
were  waiting  for  this  a  breeze  sprang  up  and  carried 
the  fipermer  out  of  danger  before  the  frigate  could 
pick  up  her  boats.  On  the  1st  of  May  the  Epermer 
reached  Savannah,  and  three  days  later  the  Peacock 
arrived.  Congress  voted  Master-Commandant  War- 
rington  a  gold  medal,  to  each  of  his  officers  a  silver 
one,  and  to  each  of  the  midshipmen  and  sailing-mas 
ters  a  sword.  The  colors  of  the  Epermer  are  preserved 
in  the  Naval  Institute  Building  at  Annapolis.  Lieu 
tenant  Nicholson  spoke  in  high  terms  of  the  conduct 
of  Midshipmen  Thomas  Greener  and  Rodgers,  who  were 
in  the  prize  with  him.  The  Epermer  was  sold  for  fifty- 
five  thousand  dollars. 

On  the  4th  of  June  the  Peacock  sailed  on  another 
cruise  against  the  enemy.  Eunning  across  the  Grand 
Banks,  she  stationed  herself  in  St.  George's  Channel, 
off  the  coast  of  Ireland,  where  she  captured  several 
valuable  prizes  and  caused  great  anxiety  among  British 
merchants..  In  order  to  elude  his  numerous  pursuers, 
Master  Commandant  Warrington  changed  his  cruising 
ground  to  the  Bay  of  Biscay  and  the  coast  of  Portugal, 
but  not  meeting  an  enemy  of  equal  force  he  stood 
across  the  Atlantic,  and  on  the  29th  of  October  arrived 
in  New  York.  In  this  cruise  of  one  hundred  and 
forty -seven  days  the  Peacock  captured  fourteen  mer 
chant  vessels,  valued  at  four  hundred  and  ninety-three 
thousand  dollars,  together  with  one  hundred  and  fifty 
men. 


1814.  DEATH   OF  CAPTAIN  PARKER.  593 

After  bringing  the  Epermer  into  Savannah.  Lieu- 
tenant  Nicholson  was  transferred  to  the  16-gun  brig 
Siren.  After  the  war  broke  out  this  brig,  under  the 
command  of  Master-Commandant  Joseph  Bainbridge, 
cruised  a  short  time  in  the  Gulf  of  Mexico,  and  then 
came  north  to  Boston,  when  Bainbridge  was  placed  in 
command  of  the  Frolic,  while  George  Parker,  who  had 
been  first  lieutenant  in  the  Constitution  during  her 
action  with  the  Java,  was  put  in  command  of  the 
Siren.  Early  in  June  the  Siren  sailed  from  Boston  in 
company  with  the  privateer  Grand  TurJc,  with  orders 
to  cruise  off  the  coast  of  Africa.  When  the  ship  was 
off  the  Canary  Islands  Captain  Parker  died,  and  his 
body  was  committed  to  the  deep  ;  but  scarcely  had  the 
ship  got  under  way  again  when  his  coffin,  which  was 
improperly  constructed,  was  seen  floating  on  the  sur 
face  of  the  ocean.  Lieutenant  Nicholson,  who  suc 
ceeded  to  the  command  of  the  Siren,  being  undecided 
as  to  what  course  to  take,  called  the  men  together  and 
asked  whether  they  desired  to  continue  the  cruise 
under  his  command  or  to  return  to  port.  With  three 
hearty  cheers  they  expressed  their  desire  to  continue 
the  cruise,  and  returned  to  their  quarters.  The  Siren 
approached  the  African  coast  during  the  night  and  de 
scried  a  large  sail,  but  was  unable  to  make  out  whether 
it  was  a  vessel  of  war  or  a  merchantman.  While  she 
was  cautiously  approaching,  the  stranger  suddenly  set 
all  sail  and  gave  chase.  She  proved  to  be  a  British 
frigate,  and  Lieutenant  Nicholson  made  sail  to  es 
cape.  By  hanging  out  false  lights  on  floating  casks, 
and  extinguishing  his  own  lights  and  altering  his 
course,  he  baffled  his  pursuer,  and  by  daybreak  the 
enemy  was  nowhere  to  be  seen.  A  few  days  afterward, 
while  passing  an  English  vessel  in  the  Senegal  River, 
the  Siren  hailed,  and  on  receiving  an  insolent  reply 
poured  in  a  broadside.  But  the  current  separated  the 
ships,  and  while  Nicholson  was  attempting  to  beat  up 
the  stream  again  the  fort  opened  such  a  heavy  fire  that 


594  THE    NAVAL   WAR  IN   1814.  1814 

it  became  necessary  to  abandon  the  attack.  After  cap 
turing  and  destroying  the  English  ships  Barton  and 
Adventure,  the  Siren,  on  the  12th  of  July,  fell  in  with 
the  English  74-gun  ship  of  the  line  Medway,  Captain 
Augustus  Brine,  and  after  a  chase  of  eleven  hours,  in 
which  all  the  Siren's  guns,  cables  and  shot  wrere  thrown 
overboard,  she  was  overtaken,  and  both  vessels  sailed 
for  the  Cape  of  Good  Hope. 

The  Wasp,  Master-Commandant  Johnston  Blakeley, 
was  the  third  of  the  new  sloops  to  get  to  sea.  Sailing 
from  Portsmouth,  N.  H.,  on  the  1st  of  May,  she  made 
directly  for  the  English  Channel,  where  so  many  of  our 
cruisers  had  operated  with  success.  At  4.15  A.  M.  on 
June  28th,  while  the  ship  was  in  latitude  48°  36'  North, 
longitude  11°  15'  West,  and  the  weather  was  cloudy 
with  a  light  breeze  from  the  northeast,  two  sails  were 
descried  about  three  points  off  the  lee  beam,  and  as  the 
Wasp  was  carrying  all  sail  for  the  stranger  a  third 
vessel  appeared  off  the  weather  beam.  Master-Com 
mandant  Blakeley  immediately  changed  his  course  to 
reconnoiter  the  latter,  and  by  10  A.  M.  she  hoisted  Eng 
lish  colors  and  a  private  signal,  diagonal  yellow  and 
blue.  At  12.30  p.  M.  she  gave  another  signal,  diagonal 
blue  and  white,  at  the  foremast,  and  fired  a  gun ;  but 
as  Blakeley  did  not  recognize  these  he  cleared  for  bat 
tle.  A  little  after  1.15  P.  M.  the  Wasp  changed  her 
course  so  as  to  weather  the  enemy,  but  the  latter  frus 
trated  this  by  tacking  also,  and  finding  that  he  would 
not  gain  this  advantage,  Master-Commandant  Blakeley, 
at  1.50  P.  M.,  signified  his  readiness  to  begin  the  action 
by  hoisting  his  colors  and  firing  a  gun  to  windward. 
The  stranger  promptly  accepted  the  challenge  and  bore 
down  to  engage.  At  3. 15  P.  M.1  the  Englishman,  being 
sixty  yards  off  the  Wasp's  port  and  weather  quarter, 
opened  fire  with  a  boat  carronade  from  her  forecastle. 
After  receiving  the  fire  of  this  gun  five  times  without 

1  Log  of  the  Wasp. 


1814.  THE   WASP-REINDEER  ACTION.  595 

replying,  the  Wasp,  at  3.26  p.  M.,  put  her  helm  down, 
luffed  up,  and  opened  with  her  after  carronades.  After 
ten  minutes'  steady  fire  the  enemy's  rigging  was  seen 
to  be  cut  to  pieces,  and  five  minutes  later  his  bowsprit 
fouled  the  Wasp's  port  quarter.  Master-Commandant 
Blakeley  then  poured  in  a  heavy  raking  broadside, 
which  swept  the  enemy's  decks  fore  and  aft,  the  Ameri 
can  sharpshooters  in  the  meantime  picking  off  the  Brit 
ish  officers  whenever  they  showed  themselves  on  deck. 
Finding  that  his  ship  was  fast  becoming  a  wreck,  the 
British  commander  called  upon  his  crew  to  board,  and 
while  gallantly  leading  them  he  was  killed  by  two 
bullets  from  the  marksmen  in  the  Wasp's  maintop. 
Having  easily  repelled  the  boarders,  Blakeley  called 
upon  his  men  to  board,  which  was  done  with  but  feeble 
resistance  on  the  part  of  the  British,  and  at  3.45  P.  M.— 
nineteen  minutes  from  the  time  the  Wasp  opened  fire— 
the  British  flag  was  lowered.  The  prize  was  found  to 
be  the  English  brig  sloop  Reindeer,  Captain  R.  William 
Manners. 

The  Wasp  carried  the  same  armament  as  the  Pea 
cock — twenty  short  32-pounders  and  two  long  12-pound- 
ers,  making  a  total  of  twenty-two  guns  and  three  hun 
dred  and  nine  pounds  weight  of  metal  to  the  broadside. 
The  Reirideer,  a  sister  ship  to  the  Epermer,  carried  six 
teen  short  24-pounders,  two  short  6-pounders  and  one 
short  12-pounder — in  all  nineteen  guns  and  two  hun 
dred  and  four  pounds  of  metal  to  the  broadside.  Out 
of  her  crew  of  one  hundred  and  seventy-three  the 
Wasp  lost  eleven  killed  and  fifteen  wounded,  Midship 
men  Henry  S.  Langdon,  Jr.,  and  Frank  Toscan  dying 
two  months  later  from  their  wounds.  The  Reindeer's 
crew  numbered  one  hundred  and  eighteen,  of  whom 
twenty -five  were  killed  and  forty  two  wounded,  Cap 
tain  Manners  among  the  former.  One  of  the  English 
men  had  a  ramrod  fired  into  his  head,  and  before  it 
could  be  extracted  it  was  sawed  off  close  to  the  skull. 
The  man  recovered.  First-Lieutenant  Richard  Jones, 


596  THE  NAVAL  WAR  IN  1814.  1814. 

Lieutenant  Thomas  Chambers  and  Master's- Mate  Mak 
thew  Mitchell  were  wounded. 

Comparative  force  and  loss. 

Guns.  Lbs.  Crew.        Killed.    Wounded.    Total. 

Wasp :          22  309  173          11  15          26  j    Time 

Reindeer :     19  204  118          25  42          67  \    19m. 

An  English  writer  says  :  "In  a  line  with  her  ports 
the  jReindcer  was  literally  cut  to  pieces,  her  upper 
works,  boats  and  spare  spars  were  one  complete  wreck. 
Her  masts  were  both  badly  wounded,  particularly  her 
foremast,  which  was  left  in  a  tottering  state,"  and  on 
the  following  day,  in  spite  of  all  efforts,  it  went  by  the 
board.  Finding  his  prize  too  shattered  to  keep  afloat, 
Master-Commandant  Blakeley  blew  her  up.  The  Wasp 
did  not  escape  with  the  little  injury  that  was  generally 
the  lot  of  American  cruisers  in  this  war,  but  as  com 
pared  with  her  antagonist  she  fared  extremely  well. 
Six  round  shot  and  many  grape  struck  her  hull,  one 
24-pound  ball  went  through  the  center  of  her  foremast, 
and  the  rigging  was  somewhat  damaged.  This  action 
reflects  most  creditably  on  Blakeley,  not  only  for  the 
masterly  handling  of  his  ship  but  for  the  magnificent 
discipline  pervading  the  entire  company.  We  have 
seen  how  the  men  quietly  stood  by  their  guns  full 
eleven  minutes  without  flinching,  while  the  enemy  de 
liberately  fired  upon  them  at  close  range  ;  but  when  the 
order  was  given  the  rapidity  and  precision  of  their  gun 
nery,  as  seen  in  the  results,  was  wonderful,  clearly 
showing  that  they  had  been  long  and  carefully  trained. 
First  and  Third  Lieutenants  James  Reilly  and  Freder 
ick  Baury,  who  were  engaged  also  in  the  action  with 
the  Guerriere  and  the  Java,  conducted  themselves  with 
great  gallantry,  and  the  same  was  said  of  Second-Lieu 
tenant  T.  G.  Tillinghast,  who  served  as  second  lieutenant 
in  the  Enterprise  during  her  action  with  the  Boxer.  On 
the  other  hand,  Captain  Manners  was  deserving  of  much 
credit  for  his  personal  gallantry  and  good  discipline  in 


1814.  THE   WASP-REINDEER  ACTION.  597 

the  Reindeer.  James  says:  "The  British  crew  had 
long  served  together,  and  were  called  the  pride  of  Plym 
outh."  Manners  was  first  wounded  in  the  calf  of  his 
leg,  and  soon  afterward  a  canister  shot  passed  through 
both  his  thighs,  but  he  refused  to  be  taken  below. 
Finally  two  musket  balls  crashed  through  his  skull, 
and,  placing  one  hand  on  his  forehead  and  with  the 
other  convulsively  brandishing  his  sword,  he  exclaimed, 
UO  God!"  and  dropped  lifeless  on  his  own  deck. 
The  London  Times,  commenting  on  this  action,  says : 
"It  seems  fated  that  the  ignorance,  incapacity  and 
cowardice  of  the  Americans  by  land  should  be  continu 
ally  relieved  in  point  of  effect  on  the  public  mind  by 
their  successes  at  sea.  To  the  list  of  their  captures, 
which  we  can  never  peruse  without  the  most  painful 
emotions,  is  now  to  be  added  that  of  his  Majesty's  ship 
Reindeer,  taken  after  a  short  but  most  desperate  action 
by  the  United  States  sloop  of  war  Wasp"  The  author 
of  one  of  the  best  histories  of  the  navy  of  Great  Britain 
—Captain  Brenton — has  neglected  to  mention  the  action 
at  all.  For  this  brilliant  affair  Congress  voted  Master- 
Commandant  Blakeley  a  gold  medal,  and  to  each  of  his 
officers  a  silver  one ;  also  a  sword  to  each  of  the  mid 
shipmen  and  sailing-masters.  The  Reindeer's  flag  is 
now  in  the  Naval  Institute  Building  at  Annapolis. 

After  burning  his  prize  and  placing  some  of  his 
wounded  prisoners  aboard  a  Portuguese  vessel,  Master- 
Commandant  Blakeley  made  sail  for  L'Orient,  where 
he  arrived  on  the  8th  of  July.  Remaining  in  port  until 
the  27th  of  August,  he  again  put  to  sea,  on  the  30th 
captured  a  brig,  and  on  the  following  day  took  the 
merchant  ship  Bon  Accord.  On  the  morning  of  Sep 
tember  1st  a  squadron  of  ten  sail  was  made  out  to  lee 
ward,  and  on  closer  inspection  they  proved  to  be  mer 
chantmen  convoyed  by  a  74-gun  ship  of  the  line,  the 
Armada,  and  a  bomb  vessel.  As  the  ships  were  sailing 
in  open  order,  the  Wasp  managed  to  cut  out  one  of 
them,  which  proved  to  be  the  brig  Mary,  laden  with 


598  THE  NAVAL  WAR  IN   1814.  1814. 

brass  cannon  taken  from  the  Spaniards  and  stores  from 
Gibraltar.  Blakeley  burned  her,  but  on  attempting  to 
repeat  his  audacious  attack  he  was  driven  oif  by  the 
ship  of  the  line. 

About  half  past  six  o'clock  that  evening  the  Wasp, 
being  in  latitude  47°  30'  North,  longitude  11°  West, 
two  sails  were  discovered  off  the  starboard  bow,  and 
shortly  afterward  two  more  off  the  port,  and  all  sail 
was  immediately  made  to  bring  up  with  the  first 
strangers.  By  7  P.  M.  it  was  quite  dark,  and  it  could 
be  seen  that  one  of  the  vessels  was  making  signals  with 
lanterns  and  rockets,  and  an  hour  later  Blakeley  an 
swered  them  with  a  blue  light  on  his  forecastle.  By 
this  time  the  ship  that  made  the  signals  had  separated 
from  the  others.  Singling  her  out,  the  Wasp  rapidly 
approached  her,  and  at  8.38  p.  M.  the  chase  fired  two 
shot  from  her  stern  guns,  but  still  held  on  her  course 
to  the  southwest.  By  9.20  P.  M.  the  Wasp  had  brought 
the  stranger  under  her  lee  guns,  when  the  chase  hailed, 
"What  ship  is  that?"  Master-Commandant  Blakeley 
replied  by  asking,  "  What  brig  is  that  3 "  The  stranger 
responded,  "His  Majesty's  brig  -  — ."  Owing  to  the 
strong  breeze  whistling  through  the  rigging  the  name 
could  not  be  made  out.  The  chase  then  repeated  his 
first  hail,  upon  which  Blakeley  seized  a  trumpet  and 
ordered  her  to  heave  to  and  she  would  know.  The  hail 
again  came  from  the  stranger  and  received  the  same 
reply.  Sailing- Master  James  E.  Carr  now  went  to  the 
forecastle  and  for  the  third  time  ordered  the  chase  to 
heave  to,  but,  instead  of  doing  this,  she  set  her  port 
fore-topmast  studding  sails  to  escape. 

At  9.29  P.  M.  Blakeley  ordered  a  12-pound  bow  gun 
to  be  fired,  which  drew  a  broadside  from  the  chase. 
The  Wasp  then  ran  under  her  lee  bow,  to  prevent  her 
escape  in  the  darkness,  and  opened  with  star  and  bar 
shot.  This  soon  crippled  the  enemy  in  his  rigging  by 
cutting  away  the  slings  of  the  gaff,  which,  falling  with 
the  boom  mainsail,  covered  the  quarter-deck  guns  on 


1814.  THE  WASP  SINKS  THE   AVON.  599 

the  port  side.  Seeing  that  the  chase  could  not  escape 
him,  Blakeley  loaded  with  round  shot  and  fired  at  her 
hull,  and  the  cannonading  then  became  close  and 
heavy  on  both  sides.  In  a  few  minutes  the  enemy's 
mainmast  fell  by  the  board,  leaving  her  unmanageable, 
and  her  fire  then  gradually  slackened,  while  that  from 
the  Wasp  was  maintained  with  unabated  vigor.  By 
10  P.  M.  the  stranger's  fire  had  ceased  altogether,  when 
Blakeley  hailed  to  know  if  she  had  surrendered.  As 
the  only  reply  was  a  few  straggling  shot,  the  Wasp 
reopened  her  broadsides,  and  at  10.12  P.  M.,  the  enemy 
having  been  silent  for  some  time,  Blakeley  again 
hailed.  This  time  he  received  an  answer  in  the  affirma 
tive,  and  the  Wasp  was  about  to  lower  a  boat  when 
suddenly  another  ship  loomed  up  out  of  the  darkness, 
just  astern,  and  rapidly  drew  near.  The  boat  was  in 
stantly  ordered  back,  the  men  returned  to  their  quar 
ters,  and  every  preparation  was  made  to  receive  a  sec 
ond  enemy,  while  the  Wasp  stood  off  to  reconnoiter  ; 
but  at  10.36  p.  M.  two  more  vessels  were  discovered 
standing  toward  the  Wasp.  As  her  braces  had  been 
cut  away,  the  Wasp  kept  off  the  wind  until  new  ones 
could  be  rove,  and  then  stood  away  with  the  second 
stranger  in  chase.  After  exchanging  a  few  shot,  how 
ever,  the  latter  hauled  off  to  rejoin  her  consorts.  Mas 
ter-Commandant  Blakeley  then  continued  his  cruise, 
not  having  been  able  to  learn  the  name  or  fate  of  his 
opponent ;  but  when  last  seen  she  was  firing  guns  and 
making  signals  of  distress.  It  was  afterward  known 
that  the  vessel  that  engaged  the  Wasp  was  the  British 
18-gun  brig  sloop  Avon,  Captain  John  James  Arbuth- 
not,  while  the  second  vessel  was  the  British  18-gun  brig 
Castilian,  Captain  Brainer,  and  the  other  two  were  in 
her  company.  The  Avon  made  repeated  signals  of  dis 
tress,  and  the  Castilian  tacked  and  stood  toward  her. 
At  11.55  P.  M.  Captain  Brainer  was  informed  by  Captain 
Arbuthnot  that  the  Avon  was  sinking  fast,  upon  which 
the  Castilian  immediately  hoisted  out  her  boats  to 

41 


600  THE  NAVAL   WAR  IN   1814.  1814. 

save  the  people ;  and  at  1  A.  M.  on  the  2d,  just  as  the 
]ast  boat  had  pushed  off  from  the  Avon,  the  British 
brig  went  down  head  foremost. 

The  Wasp's  armament  has  just  been  given.  The 
Avon  mounted  sixteen  short  32-pounders  and  two  long 
6-pounders,  making  eighteen  guns,  with  two  hundred 
and  sixty-two  pounds  of  metal  to  a  broadside,  while  her 
crew  is  given  at  one  hundred  and  seventeen,  of  which 
number  First- Lieu  tenant  John  Prendergast  and  nine 
men  were  killed,  and  her  commander,  Second-Lieuten 
ant  John  Harvey,  Midshipman  John  Travers  and  twenty- 
nine  seamen  were  wounded.  The  Wasp's  complement 
in  this  action  or  in  her  engagement  with  the  Reindeer 
is  not  definitely  known.  In  the  first  action  it  was  ap 
proximated  at  one  hundred  and  seventy -three,  eleven 
of  whom  were  killed  and  fifteen  wounded.  This  would 
leave  her  at  the  time  of  her  fight  with  the  Avon,  about 
one  hundred  and  sixty-two,  out  of  which  number  she 
lost  two  killed  and  one  wounded.1 

Comparative  force  and  loss. 

Guns.          Lbs.         Crew.     Killed.    Wounded.    Total. 

Wasp :          22         309        163          2  1  3  )    Time 

Avon :  18         262        117        10  32          42  f    43m. 

In  this  night  action  the  Wasp  received  only  four 
round  shot  in  her  hull.  Her  foremast  was  peppered 
with  grapeshot,  while  the  only  considerable  injury  she 
had  sustained  was  in  her  rigging.  Lieutenants  James 
Reilly  and  T.  Tillinghast  and  Midshipmen  Frederick 
Baury  were  again  highly  commended  by  Master- Com 
mandant  Blakeley  for  their  gallantry. 

Johnston  Blakeley  and  his  gallant  crew  never  ascer 
tained  the  name  of  their  foe,  for  the  Wasp  never  re 
turned  to  port.  On  the  12th  of  September  she  cap 
tured  and  scuttled  the  Three  Brothers,  on  the  14th 
she  destroyed  the  Bacchus,  and  on  the  21st,  being  in 

1  Official  report  of  Master-Commandant  Blakeley. 


1814.  FATE  OF  THE  WASP.  601 

latitude  33°  12'  North,  longitude  14°  56'  West,  she 
overhauled  the  Atalanta,  of  eight  guns,  making  in  all 
fifteen  vessels,  or  two  thousand  eight  hundred  and 
sixty  tons  of  shipping,  valued  at  two  hundred  thou 
sand  dollars,  captured  by  the  Wasp.  All  but  two  of 
these  merchantmen  were  destroyed  at  sea.  The  Ata- 
lanta  (formerly  the  privateer  Siro\  of  Baltimore,  hav 
ing  a  valuable  cargo,  was  sent  to  the  United  States  in 
charge  of  Midshipman  David  Geisinger  and  a  prize 
crew,  and  arrived  at  Savannah  in  October.  This  is  the 
last  direct  intelligence  ever  received  from  the  Wasp. 
After  many  months  of  anxious  waiting,  a  further  gleam 
of  light,  from  an  unexpected  quarter,  was  thrown  upon 
the  doom  of  this  vessel.  It  will  be  remembered  that 
on  the  capture  of  the  Essex  in  the  harbor  of  Valpa 
raiso,  the  American  officers  were  released  on  parole 
and  were  taken  aboard  the  Phoebe.  Among  these  offi 
cers  were  Acting-Lieutenant  M'Knight  and  Mr.  Lyman, 
master's  mate.  The  Phasbe,  having  landed  her  prison 
ers  at  Rio  de  Janeiro,  proceeded  on  her  cruise,  while 
the  above-mentioned  gentlemen,  as  the  shortest  way  of 
reaching  the  United  States,  took  passage  in  the  Swed 
ish  bark  Adonis,  bound  for  England.  Many  months 
rolled  by,  but  no  tidings  of  Lieutenant  M'Knight  or  his 
companion  reached  America.  Their  friends  became 
anxious,  and  inquiries  were  set  on  foot,  which  revealed 
the  following  strange  coincidence,  while  an  extract 
from  the  log  of  the  Adonis  discloses  the  sad  fate  of 
these  officers  and  gives  us  a  last  look  at  the  ill-fated 
Wasp.  "August  23d. — Left  Rio  de  Janeiro  :  Stephen 
Decatur  M'Knight  and  James  Lyman,  passengers  for 
England.  October  9th.— In  latitude  18°  35'  North,  longi 
tude  30°  10'  West,  sea  account,  at  eight  o'clock  in  the 
morning,  discovered  a  strange  sail  giving  chase  to  us  and 
fired  several  guns,  she  gaining  very  fast.  At  half  past  ten 
o'clock  hove  to,  and  was  boarded  by  an  officer  dressed 
in  an  English  doctor' s  uniform  ;  the  vessel  also  hoisted 
an  English  ensign.  The  officer  proceeded  to  examine 


602  THE  NAVAL    WAR  IN   1814.  1814. 

my  ship's  papers,  etc.,  likewise  the  letter-bags,  and 
took  from  one  of  them  a  letter  to  the  victualing  office, 
London.  Finding  I  had  two  American  officers  as  pas 
sengers,  he  immediately  left  the  ship  and  went  on 
board  the  sloop  of  war  ;  he  shortly  afterward  returned, 
took  the  American  gentlemen  with  him,  and  went  a 
second  time  on  board  the  sloop.  In  about  half  an 
hour  he  returned  again  with  Messrs.  M'Knight  and 
Lyman,  and  they  informed  me  that  the  vessel  was  the 
United  States  sloop  of  war  Wasp,  commanded  by  Cap 
tain  Blakeley,  or  Blake,  last  from  France,  where  she 
had  refitted  ;  had  lately  sunk  the  Reindeer,  English 
sloop  of  war,  and  another  vessel,  which  sunk  without 
their  being  able  to  save  a  single  person  or  learn  the 
vessel's  name  ;  that  Messrs.  M'Knight  and  Lyman  had 
now  determined  to  leave  me,  and  go  aboard  the  Wasp, 
paid  me  their  passage  in  dollars,  at  5s.  9d.  (exchange), 
and,  having  taken  their  luggage  on  board  the  Wasp, 
they  made  sail  to  the  southward.  Shortly  after  they 
left  I  found  that  Lieutenant  M'Knight  had  left  his 
writing-desk  behind,  and  I  immediately  made  signal 
for  the  Wasp  to  return,  and  stood  toward  her ;  they, 
observing  my  signal,  stood  back,  came  alongside,  and 
sent  their  boat  aboard  for  the  writing-desk  ;  after 
which  they  sent  me  a  log  line  and  some  other  presents, 
and  made  all  sail  in  a  direction  for  the  line,  and,  I  have 
reason  to  suppose,  for  the  convoy  that  passed  on  Thurs 
day  previous." 

Many  years  have  passed  since  the  9th  of  October, 
1814,  but  no  tidings,  direct  or  indirect,  have  been  re 
ceived  from  the  Wasp,  and  none  ever  can  come  until 
the  sea  shall  give  up  its  dead.  The  Wasp  that  took 
the  Frolic  in  1812,  and  afterward  was  captured  by  the 
British  ship  of  the  line  Poictiers  and  was  taken  into 
the  English  service,  also  was  supposed  to  have  found 
ered  at  sea,  not  having  been  heard  from  since  she  left 
port  for  a  cruise  in  the  spring  of  1814. 


CHAPTER  XIV. 

BATTLES  OF  LAKE  CHAMPLAIN  AND  LAKE  BOKGNE. 

THE  first  abdication  of  Napoleon  Bonaparte  relieved 
England  of  immediate  fear  of  her  inveterate  enemy,  and 
enabled  her  to  detail  a  large  body  of  troops  for  service 
in  America.  Having  lost  the  control  of  Lake  Erie  and 
Lake  Ontario,  the  English  turned  their  attention  to 
Lake  Champlain,  which,  with  the  Richelieu  and  Hud 
son  Rivers,  afforded  an  almost  uninterrupted  water 
course  from  Montreal  to  New  York.  The  importance 
of  this  highway  was  seen  early  in  the  war,  but  as  the 
Americans  began  hostilities  by  striking  the  Canadas  on 
their  western  boundary,  the  control  of  the  Great  Lakes 
was  of  the  first  importance.  Now  the  struggle  for  the 
control  of  Lake  Champlain  began  in  earnest. 

At  the  beginning  of  the  War  of  1812  the  Ameri 
cans  had  two  vessels  on  this  lake,  the  sloops  Growler 
and  Eagle,  carrying  ten  short  12-pounders  and  fifty 
men  each,  but  on  the  3d  of  June,  1813,  while  chasing 
an  English  gunboat,  they  were  caught  in  a  swift  cur 
rent  at  Isle-Aux-Noix  and  were  captured,  which  gave 
the  enemy  undisputed  control  of  Lake  Champlain. 
With  a  view  of  recovering  it,  Master- Commandant 
Thomas  Macdonough,  the  American  commander  on  the 
lake,  began  the  construction  of  the  ship  Saratoga,  the 
schooner  Eagle  and  several  gunboats,  in  Otter  Creek. 
At  the  same  time  the  Ticonderoga,  which  had  been  de 
signed  for  a  steamboat,  was  altered  and  pierced  for 
seventeen  guns.  The  Eagle  was  launched  nineteen 
days  after  her  keel  was  laid. 

Before  these  vessels  could  get  to  sea,  Captain  Pring, 


BATTLES  OF  LAKES  CHAMPLAIN   AND  BORGXE.     1814. 

the  commander  of  the  British  .naval  forces  on  the  lake, 
appeared  off  Otter  Creek,  May  14th,  with  eight  galleys 
and  a  bomb  sloop,  and  for  an  hour  kept  up  a  heavy 
fire.  Macdonough,  who  had  been  informed  of  the  in 
tended  attack,  had  landed  the  guns  of  his  vessels  and 
formed  them  in  a  battery,  and  succeeded  in  repelling 
the  enemy.  Soon  afterward  the  American  squadron 
sailed  out  of  Otter  Creek  and  anchored  off  Plattsburg. 
By  August,  1814,  the  enemy  had  collected  a  formidable 
army  of  ten  thousand  to  fifteen  thousand  men  in  Mont 
real,  under  the  command  of  Sir  George  Prevost.  The 
English  naval  force  on  the  lake  also  had  been  increased 
by  the  construction  of  the  brig  Linnet  and  ten  gun 
boats.  Captain  George  Downie,  a  veteran  officer  of 
the  British  navy,  arrived  to  assume  command  of  the 
naval  operations.  By  the  middle  of  August  Sir  George 
Prevost  crossed  the  frontier  at  the  head  of  twelve  thou 
sand  troops  to  attack  Plattsburg.  This  place  was 
defended  by  three  thousand  men,  including  Izard's  in 
valids  and  the  militia  of  New  York  and  Yermont, 
under  Brigadier  -  General  Alexander  Macomb.  Sir 
George  moved  leisurely  down  Lake  Champlain  toward 
Plattsburg,  driving  General  Macomb's  skirmishers 
before  him,  and  on  the  3d  of  September  Captain 
Downie  appeared  on  the  lake. 

The  American  naval  force  on  Lake  Champlain  at 
this  time  consisted  of  the  Saratoga  (flagship),  mount 
ing  eight  long  24-pounders,  six  short  42-pounders  and 
twelve  short  32-pounders  ;  the  Eagle,  Lieutenant  Rob 
ert  Henley,  eight  long  18-pounders  and  twelve  short 
32-pounders ;  the  Ticonderoga,  Lieutenant  Stephen 
Cassin,  eight  long  12-pounders,  four  long  18-pounders 
and  five  short  32-pounders ;  the  Preble,  Lieutenant 
Charles  A.  Budd,  seven  long  9-pounders  ;  ten  galleys, 
mounting  six  long  24-pounders,  four  long  12-pounders 
and  six  short  18-pounders  ;  giving  a  total  of  eighty-six 
guns  and  (deducting  seven  per  cent  for  deficiency  in 
the  weight  of  American  shot)  nineteen  hundred  and 


1814. 


MACDONOUGII'S  LINE  OF   BATTLE. 


605 


four  pounds  of  metal.  The  British  squadron  consisted 
of  the  Confiance  (flagship),  mounting  thirty-one  long 
24-pounders  and  six  short  32-pounders  ;  the  Linnet, 
Captain  Daniel  Pring,  sixteen  long  12-pounders  ;  the 
Chubb  (formerly  the  Eagle],  Lieutenant  McGhie,  one 
long  6-pounder  and  ten  short  18-pounders  ;  the  Finch 
(formerly  the  Growler],  Lieutenant  William  Hicks,  four 
long  6-pounders  and  seven  short  18-pounders  ;  and 
twelve  gunboats,  mounting  three  long  24-pounders,  five 
long  18-pounders,  eight  short  32-pounders  and  one 
short  18-pounder  ;  making  a  total  of  ninety-two  guns 
with  nineteen  hundred  pounds  of  metal. 

About  sunrise  on  the  morning  of  September  llth 
the  American  guard  boat  announced  the  approach  of 
the  hostile  squadron.  Master-Commandant  Macdon- 
ough,  after  assembling  his 


crew  on  the  main  deck  of 

the  Saratoga  for  prayers, 

formed  a   double  line  of 

battle  running  north  from 

Crab    Island.     The    outer 

or  eastern  line  —  formed  by 

the  Eagle,  the  Saratoga, 

the   Ticonderoga  and  the 

Preble—Y&n.  from  shallow 

water  off  Crab  Island  to 

the  shoals  at  Cumberland 

Head,  which  made  it  im 

possible    for    the    British 

vessels  of  heavy  draft  to 

double    either   end.      The 

second  line,  formed  by  the 

gunboats,    was    anchored 

about  forty  yards  west  of 

the  first  line.     By  this  arrangement  not  only  were  the 

enemy  prevented  from  flanking  the  American  line,  but 

the  distance  from  Cumberland  Head  to  Crab  Island 

was  so  short,  that  Captain  Downie  could  not  draw  out 


Diagram  of  the  battle,  NO.  i. 


606    BATTLES  OF   LAKES  CHAMPLAIN  AND  BORGNE.     1814. 

the  fall  length  of  his  line  of  battle  unless  he  formed  it 
outside  of  the  bay,  where  he  would  be  out  of  range,  or 
inside,  where  all  the  American  short  guns  could  play 
with  eifect. 

Just  as  eight  bells  was  striking  in  the  Saratoga,  or 
shortly  after  8  A.  M.,  the  upper  sails  of  the  British 
squadron  were  discovered  moving  along  the  eastern 
side  of  Cumberland  Head,  the  intervening  trees  con 
cealing  their  hulls  and  force.  The  first  vessel  that 
rounded  the  point  and  came  into  full  view  was  the 
Finch,  and  she  was  followed  by  the  others  in  quick 
succession,  when  the  enemy  hove  to,  waiting  for  his 
gunboats  to  come  up  before  beginning  the  attack.  In 
the  mean  time  the  officers  of  both  squadrons  were  scan 
ning  each  other  through  their  glasses,  anxious  to  dis 
cover  the  strength  and  dispositions  for  defense  of  their 
opponents.  Captain  Downie  quickly  formed  his  plan 
of  battle,  and  on  the  arrival  of  the  tardy  gunboats  he 
ordered  them  to  attack  the  southern  end  of  the  Amer 
ican  line,  while  the  Chubb  and  the  Linnet  were  directed 
to  double  the  northern  end  of  the  line,  evidently  in  the 
belief  that  there  was  sufficient  water  for  that  purpose. 
The  Confiance  and  the  Finch  were  to  attack  the  Sara 
toga  and  the  Ticonderoga. 

On  the  English  came,  giving  repeated  cheers,  and 
with  their  flags  defiantly  flapping  in  the  fresh  northerly 
breeze.  Lieutenant  Henley,  of  the  Eagle,  who  had 
first  seen  blood  in  the  Constellation-  Vengeance  fight 
(on  which  occasion  Captain  Truxtun  remarked,  "That 
stripling  is  destined  to  be  a  brave  officer")  began  a 
rapid  discharge  of  his  long  18-pounders  as  soon  as  the 
enemy  entered  the  bay,  but  as  the  shot  fell  short  he 
desisted.  Master-Commandant  Macdonough,  having 
carefully  made  his  final  preparations,  calmly  awaited 
the  ordeal.  In  the  lull,  ominous  of  approaching  storm, 
while  the  Americans  stood  silently  by  their  guns  in 
momentary  expectation  of  the  order  to  fire,  a  rooster  in 
the  Eagle,  startled  by  the  cannonading,  suddenly  flew 


1814.  AN  AUSPICIOUS  OPENING. 

upon  a  gun  and  gave  a  prolonged  crow.  The  happy 
omen  drew  tremendous  cheering  from  the  American 
squadron,  which  was  echoed  and  re-echoed  by  the  hills 
around  the  bay.  Soon  afterward  the  British  galleys 
opened,  but  Macdonough  restrained  a  general  fire  until 
they  were  in  full  range.  In  the  mean  time  he  person 
ally  trained  a  long  24-pounder  on  the  advancing  Confi- 
ance,  and  when  she  seemed  to  be  within  reach  he  fired. 
The  shot  struck  her  outer  hawse  hole  and  passed  the 
length  of  her  deck,  killing  or  wounding  several  men 
and  carrying  away  the  wheel.  This  was  the  signal  for 
all  the  American  long  guns  to  open,  and  it  was  fol 
lowed  by  a  rapid  discharge  of  artillery  along  the  Amer 
ican  line.  Captain  Downie  intended  to  anchor  and 
bring  up  athwart  the  Saratoga's  hawse,  and  for  this 
purpose  he  had  his  two  anchors  hanging  from  the  port 
bow  ready  to  drop  at  the  word ;  but  before  the  Con- 
fiance  came  within  short  range  both  anchors  were 
shot  away.  This  caused  some  confusion  in  Captain 
Downie's  plans,  so  that,  instead  of  bringing  up  where 
he  wished,  he  anchored  about  three  hundred  yards  off 
the  Saratoga's  beam. 

By  this  time  (9  A.  M.)  the  Chubb  and  the  Linnet 
had  become  hotly  engaged  with  the  Eagle.  The  Chubb 
attempted  to  run  across  the  head  of  the  American  line 
so  as  to  rake,  but  soon  found  that  it  could  not  be  done, 
on  account  of  the  shoals ;  and  Lieutenant  Henley, 
taking  advantage  of  the  confusion  and  the  exposed 
position  of  the  Chubb,  poured  in  a  full  broadside, 
which  carried  away  her  main  boom,  and  killed  or 
wounded  nearly  half  of  her  people.  Thus  crippled, 
the  Chubb  drifted  down  between  the  opposing  lines  of 
battle  toward  the  Saratoga.  Observing  this,  Macdon 
ough  trained  a  bow  gun  on  her,  and  after  one  shot  the 
Chubb  struck  and  was  taken  possession  of  by  Midship 
man  Charles  T.  Platt,  who  brought  her  under  the  Sara- 
toga's  stern  out  to  the  west  of  the  line  of  battle.  Mr. 
Platt  afterward  passed  three  times  though  the  line  of 


608    BATTLES  OF  LAKES  CHAMPLAIN  AND  BORGNE.    1814. 

the  enemy's  fire  in  an  open  boat,  carrying  orders.  The 
Linnet  now  anchored  in  a  favorable  position  off  the 
Eagld  s  bow  and  opened  a  heavy  fire. 

The  Finch,  with  the  twelve  gunboats,  by  this  time 
had  engaged  the  southern  end  of  the  line,  so  that  the 
action  had  become  general.  The  English  flagship,  how 
ever,  reserved  her  fire  until  anchored,  when  she  dis 
charged  a  full,  double- shotted  broadside  into  the  Sara 
toga.  The  effect  of  the  sixteen  long  24-pounders,  de 
liberately  aimed  in  smooth  water,  at  point-blank  range, 
was  terrific.  The  shock  threw  many  of  the  Saratoga's 
men  prostrate  on  the  deck,  and  forty  were  killed  or 
wounded,  among  the  former  being  First-Lieutenant 
Peter  Gamble,  who  was  killed  while  on  his  knees  in 
the  act  of  sighting  a  gun  by  a  shot  that  entered  the 
port,  splitting  the  quoin  and  driving  a  portion  of  it 
against  his  breast,  but  without  breaking  his  skin.  Re 
covering  from  this  first  blow  of  the  enemy,  the  men 
returned  to  their  guns,  and  from  that  time  the  firing 
was  close  and  rapid.  About  fifteen  minutes  later,  a 
shot  from  the  Saratoga  struck  the  muzzle  of  one  of 
the  Confiancds  24-pounders,  hurled  the  gun  out  of  its 
carriage,  and  threw  it  against  Captain  Downie,  who  was 
standing  behind  it,  hitting  him  upon  the  right  groin. 
Although  he  showed  signs  of  life,  he  never  spoke  again. 
"  No  part  of  his  skin  was  broken  ;  a  black  mark,  about 
the  circumference  of  a  small  plate,  was  the  only  visible 
injury.  His  watch  was  found  flattened,  with  the  hands 
pointing  to  the  hour,  minute  and  second  at  which  the 
fatal  blow  was  given."  The  command  then  devolved 
upon  First- Lieu  tenant  Robertson,  who  continued  the 
battle  with  skill  and  firmness. 

Although  the  Americans  had  gained  some  advantage 
over  the  smaller  vessels,  yet  all  knew  that  the  day 
would  be  decided  by  the  flagships,  and  for  an  hour  the 
furious  cannonading  was  maintained  all  along  the  line, 
neither  side  being  able  to  turn  the  tide  of  battle.  About 
this  time  the  Finch,  crippled  by  the  Ticonderoga, 


1814      DESPERATE   ATTACKS  ON  THE  TICONDEROGA.      £09 

drifted  over  to  Crab  Island,  where,  being  fired  upon 
by  a  gun  manned  by  the  invalids  of  the  hospital,  she 
surrendered.  On  the  other  hand,  the  British  gunboats 
had  compelled  the  Preble  to  cut  her  moorings  and  run 
inshore,  where  she  anchored  and  did  not  again  come 
into  action.  Encouraged  by  this  success,  these  gun 
boats  proceeded  against  the  Ticonderoga  and  made 
several  attempts  to  carry  her  by  boarding.  Some  of 
these  assaults  were  so  desperate  that  the  galleys  got 
within  a  boat-hook's  length  of  the  schooner,  and  the 
men  rose  from  the  sweeps  in  readiness  to  spring ;  but 
Lieutenant  Cassin,  unmindful  of  the  storm  of  grape  and 
canister,  coolly  directed  the  defense  from  the  taffrail 
and  finally  drove  the  enemy  off.  In  the  Ticonderoga 
at  this  time  was  Midshipman  Hiram  Paulding,  then 
only  seventeen  years  old,  son  of  one  of  the  captors 
of  Major  Andre  and  afterward  rear-admiral.  In  this 
action  he  commanded  a  division  of  guns,  and  when  the 
British  galleys  attacked  the  Ticonderoga  it  was  discov 
ered  that  the  matches  for  firing  the  guns  were  useless. 
Seeing  the  urgency  of  the  occasion,  young  Paulding 
flashed  his  pistol  at  the  vent  of  the  cannon  and  dis 
charged  it.  While  First-Lieutenant  John  Stansbury, 
of  the  Ticonderoga,  went  forward  to  superintend  some 
work,  he  was  knocked  overboard  by  a  cannon  ball, 
which  passed  through  him.  Two  days  later  his  body 
rose  to  the  surface  near  his  ship. 

All  this  time  the  battle  at  the  other  end  of  the  line 
had  been  raging  with  unabated  fury.  The  Linnet  had 
secured  a  very  advantageous  position  off  the  Eagles 
starboard  bow,  where  the  latter  could  bring  but  few 
guns  to  bear  either  on  the  Linnet  or  on  the  Confiance. 
Finding  his  springs  shot  away,  Lieutenant  Robert 
Henley  sheeted  home  his  topsails,  stood  about,  ran 
down  to  the  western  side  of  the  American  line,  and  an 
chored  between  the  Saratoga  and  the  Ticonderoga. 
This  brought  the  Eagle's  fresh  (port)  broadside  into 
full  play  on  the  Confiance,  but  it  also  enabled  the  Lin- 


610    BATTLES  OF  LAKES  CHAMPLAIN  AND  BORGNE.    1814. 

net  to  turn  the  American  line.  Captain  Pring  promptly 
availed  himself  of  this  opportunity,  and  soon  was  off 
the  Saratoga's  bow,  raking  her  from  stem  to  stern. 
As  gun  after  gun  became  disabled,  the  firing  between 
the  flagships  gradually  diminished,  until  now  only  a 
few  cannon  were  worked.  Aboard  the  Saratoga  nearly 
all  the  carronades  had  been  rendered  useless  by  being 
overcharged,  the  men  loading  with  two  round  shot, 
besides  two  stands  of  grape,  the  last  protruding  from 
the  muzzle  of  the  gun.  Now  that  the  Linnet  was  rak 
ing  her  with  impunity,  the  situation  of  the  Saratoga 
was  critical,  and,  to  add  to  her  accumulating  disasters, 
the  navel  bolt  of  the  last  carronade  on  the  engaged  side 
broke,  and  the  gun  flew  from  its  carriage  and  tumbled 
down  the  main  hatch.  This  left  her  with  nearly  every 
gun  in  her  starboard  battery  dismounted,  while  the 
Confiance  and  the  Linnet  were  still  keeping  up  an 
effective  fire. 

In  this  desperate  extremity,  when  by  all  human  cal 
culations  the  day  was  lost,  the  shrewd  forethought  of 
Thomas  Macdonough  came  to  his  aid.  When  arrang 
ing  his  line  of  battle  he  had  taken  the  precaution  to 
anchor  his  vessels  far  enough  apart,  so  that,  should  the 
starboard  battery  of  any  ship  become  disabled,  her  com 
mander,  by  tripping  his  bow  anchor  and  then  dropping 
a  stern  anchor,  could  swing  his  vessel  around  in  the 
northerly  breeze  and  bring  a  fresh  broadside  to  bear  on 
the  enemy  without  breaking  the  line  of  battle  or  over 
lapping  the  ship  astern.  The  time  had  now  come  when 
the  Saratoga  must  either  surrender  or  bring  some  guns 
to  bear.  Accordingly  Macdonough,  with  the  aid  of 
Sailing- Master  Brum,  manned  the  capstan  and  tripped 
the  bower  anchor,  and  let  go  his  stream  anchor  over  the 
stern.  But,  unfortunately,  the  wind  had  gone  down, 
so  that  the  ship  remained  motionless.  The  American 
commander,  however,  had  anticipated  this  difficulty, 
and  before  the  action  opened  had  dropped  two  kedges 
broad  off  each  side  of  his  bow  and  brought  the  lines 


1814. 


A  CRITICAL  MOMENT. 


611 


attached  to  them  to  his  quarters.  The  men  now  hauled 
on  the  kedge  line  and  slowly  brought  the  vessel  around, 
but  during  all  this  time  the  Linnet  was  pouring  in 
broadsides,  and  now,  as  the  Saratoga  exposed  her  stern, 
the  Confiance  raked.  In  performing  this  manoeuvre 
Sailing-Master  Brum  was  knocked  senseless  by  a  huge 
splinter.  After  several  minutes  of  this  exposure  Mac- 
donough  succeeded  in  bringing  his  ship  around,  and 
his  port  battery  came  into  play.  The  Americans 
then  rushed  to  their  guns  and  fired  with  the  vigor  of 
long-pent  vengeance.  The 
Confiance  being  subjected 
to  the  fire  of  this  fresh 
broadside,  the  few  remain 
ing  guns  of  her  port  bat 
tery  were  soon  disabled. 
Seeing  the  success  of  the 
Saratoga's  manoeuvre,  the 
British  commander  at 
tempted  to  imitate  it.  He 
hove  in  his  bow  cables  un 
til  he  tripped  anchor,  but 
further  than  this  his  ship 
would  not  move,  and  Lieu 
tenant  Robertson  helpless 
ly  saw  his  ship  becoming  a 
wreck  without  being  able 
to  strike  a  blow  in  return. 


1  r\  r*f\  i  -i  Diagram  of  the  battle.  No.  2. 

At  10.30  A.  M.  he  ordered 

the  flag  to  be  hauled  down.  The  Saratoga  then  gave 
her  undivided  attention  to  the  Linnet,  which  brig  had 
been  maintaining  a  most  exasperating  fire  on  the  Amer 
ican  flagship,  and,  after  braving  the  Saratoga's  broad 
sides  for  fifteen  minutes,  Captain  Pring  also  surren 
dered.  In  the  latter  part  of  the  action  the  British 
gunboats  had  been  driven  a  mile  eastward,  and  when 
it  was  seen  that  the  Confiance  and  the  Linnet  had 
struck,  they  made  all  sail,  and  as  not  a  vessel  in 


612    BATTLES  OF  LAKES  CHAM  PLAIN  AND  BORGNE.     1814. 

either  squadron  was  in  a  condition  to  pursue,   they 
escaped. 

Master-Commandant  Macdonough,  whose  conspicu 
ous  gallantry  throughout  this  battle  had  maintained 
the  spirits  of  his  men,  and  whose  sagacity  and  skill  had 
turned  defeat  into  victory,  now  penned  the  following 
modest  dispatch  to  the  Secretary  of  the  Navy :  "The 
Almighty  has  been  pleased  to  grant  us  a  signal  victory 
on  Lake  Champlain,  in  the  capture  of  one  frigate,  one 
brig  and  two  sloops  of  war  of  the  enemy."  Macdon 
ough,  whom  we  remember  as  one  of  the  party  that  so 
daringly  captured  the  frigate  Philadelphia  in  the 
harbor  of  Tripoli,  had  repeatedly  assisted  in  the  work 
ing  of  the  guns  and  was  twice  thrown  across  the  deck 
by  splinters.  At  one  time,  while  he  was  bending  over 
his  favorite  gun  in  the  act  of  sighting  it,  a  shot  cut  the 
spanker  boom  in  two,  causing  a  part  of  the  heavy  tim 
ber  to  fall  on  his  back  and  knocking  him  senseless  to 
the  deck,  so  that  it  was  some  minutes  before  he  recov 
ered  consciousness.  Soon  afterward  a  shot  took  off  the 
head  of  the  captain  of  a  gun  near  by  and  hurled  the 
ghastly  missile  against  Macdonough,  covering  him  with 
blood,  and  knocking  him  to  the  other  side  of  the  ship, 
where  he  fell  senseless  in  the  scuppers  between,  two 
guns.  He  quickly  recovered  and  again  returned  to  his 
post.  When  asked  how  it  was  that  he  escaped  without 
serious  injury,  while  all  his  officers  had  been  killed  or 
wounded,  he  replied :  ' '  There  is  a  power  above  which 
determines  the  fate  of  man."  Macdonough  was  pro 
moted  to  the  rank  of  captain,  and  the  State  of  New 
York  granted  him  a  thousand  acres  of  land  on  Cum 
berland  Head,  overlooking  the  scene  of  his  splen 
did  victory.  Lieutenant  Henley  was  advanced  to 
the  rank  of  master-commandant,  and  Congress  award 
ed  gold  medals  to  Macdonough,  Henley  and  Cassin, 
and  silver  ones  to  all  the  commissioned  officers  and 
to  the  nearest  male  relatives  of  Lieutenants  Gamble 
and  Stansbury,  who  fell  in  the  battle.  Swords  also 


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1814.  COUNTING  THE  LOSSES.  613 

were  given  to  each  of  the  midshipmen  and  sailing- 
masters. 

In  this  sanguinary  action  of  two  hours  and  thirty 
minutes  the  Saratoga  lost  twenty-eight  men  killed  and 
twenty-nine  wounded ;  the  Eagle,  thirteen  killed  and 
twenty  wounded ;  the  Ticonderoga,  six  killed  and  six 
wounded ;  the  Preble,  two  killed ;  the  galleys,  three 
killed  and  three  wounded ;  making  a  total  American 
loss  of  fifty-two  killed  and  fifty-eight  wounded.  The 
first  lieutenant  of  the  Eagle,  Joseph  Smith,  afterward 
rear-admiral,  was  severely  wounded,  but  continued  at 
his  post.  Sailing- Master  Eogers  Carter  and  Midship 
man  James  M.  Baldwin  died  from  their  injuries.  Sail- 
ing-Master  Elie  A.  F.  La  Vallette,  who  commanded  the 
first  and  second  divisions  of  guns,  was  knocked  sense 
less.  A  new  glazed  hat  was  presented  to. one  of  the 
American  sailors  before  the  battle,  and  after  the  action 
he  discovered  that  a  cannon  ball  had  made  a  semicir 
cular  cut  in  its  side  and  crown.  The  British  loss  was  : 
The  Confiance,  forty-one  killed  and  sixty  wounded ; 
the  Linnet,  ten  killed  and  fourteen  wounded ;  the 
Chubb,  six  killed  and  sixteen  wounded ;  the  Finch, 
two  wounded ;  total,  fifty-seven  killed  and  ninety-two 
wounded.  It  is  admitted,  however,  that  Captain 
Pring's  official  report  was  liable  to  error,  as  he  did 
not  have  a  favorable  opportunity  for  learning  the 
casualties.  The  American  figures  of  the  enemy's  loss, 
which  were  collected  "from  the  best  information  re 
ceived  from  British  officers,  from  my  own  observation, 
and  from  various  lists  found  on  board  the  Confiance,"1 
are  apparently  more  reliable.  They  place  the  British 
loss  at  eighty-four  killed,  one  hundred  and  ten  wounded 
and  three  hundred  and  sixty-seven  prisoners.2  Among 
the  killed  were  Captain  Downie,  Captain  Alexander 
Anderson,  of  the  marines,  Midshipman  William  Gunn, 

1  Letter  from  Mr.  Beale,  the  purser,  to  Macdonough,  September  13, 
1814. 

2  Emmons'  Statistical  History  of  the  United  States  Navy,  p.  59. 


BATTLES  OF  LAKES  CHAMPLAIN  AND  BORGNE.    1814. 

of  the  Confiance,  Lieutenant  William  Paul  and  Boat 
swain  Charles  Jackson,  of  the  Linnet.  The  wife  of 
the  steward  of  the  Confiance  also  was  killed  by  a  heavy 
shot,  which  struck  her  while  she  was  attending  to  the 
wounded  in  the  cockpit.  Midshipman  William  Lee,  of 
the  Confiance,  wrote :  1 1  The  havoc  on  both  sides  was 
dreadful.  I  don't  think  there  are  more  than  five  of 
our  men,  out  of  three  hundred,  but  what  are  killed  or 
wounded.  Never  was  a  shower  of  hail  so  thick  as  the 
shot  whistling  about  our  ears.  Were  you  to  see  my 
jacket,  waistcoat  and  trousers,  you  would  be  astonished 
how  I  escaped  as  I  did,  for  they  are  literally  torn  all  to 
rags  with  shot  and  splinters.  The  upper  part  of  my 
hat  was  also  shot  away.  There  is  one  of  our  marines 
who  was  in  the  Trafalgar  action  with  Lord  Nelson,  who 
says  it  was  a  mere  flea  bite  in  comparison  with  this." 

Comparative  force  and  loss. 

Guns.       Lbs.          Crew.       Killed.  Wounded.  Total. 

American  :         86      1,904         850        52          58        110 ')      Time 
British  :  92      1,900      1,000        84        110        194  I"  2h.  20m. 

By  the  second  broadside  nearly  all  the  hammocks 
and  rigging  of  the  Saratoga  were  cut  away,  and  dur 
ing  the  action  she  received  fifty-five  round  shot  in  her 
hull,  and  was  twice  set  on  fire  by  hot  shot  from  the 
Confiance.  Midshipman  Lee,  of  the  Confiance,  in  a 
letter  to  his  brother,  wrote:  "Our  masts,  yards  and 
sails  were  so  shattered  that  one  looked  like  so  many 
bunches  of  matches  and  the  other  like  a  bundle  of 
rags."  The  Eagle  received  thirty-nine  round  shot — 
mostly  24-pounders — in  the  hull,  and  four  heavy  shot 
in  her  lower  masts,  while  her  sides  were  peppered  with 
grape.  The  Confiance  was  demolished ;  one  hundred 
and  five  round  shot  were  counted  in  her  side.  In  his 
official  report  Macdonough  spoke  in  the  highest  terms  of 
Lieutenant  Peter  Gamble,  Sailing-Masters  La  Vallette 
and  Brum,  Captain  Young,  of  the  marines,  George 
Beale,  the  purser,  who  assisted  at  the  great  guns, 


1814.  THE  NEW  ORLEANS   EXPEDITION.  015 

Midshipmen  John  B.  Montgomery,  W.  L.  Monteith, 
John  H.  Graham,  Williamson,  Charles  T.  Platt  and 
Samuel  Thwing,  Acting  -  Midshipman  Baldwin  and 
Master's-Mate  Joshua  Justin.  Master-Commandant 
Henley,  of  the  Eagle,  especially  commended  Lieuten 
ant  Joseph  Smith,  Acting-Lieutenants  William  Am 
brose  Spencer  and  Loomis,  and  Midshipmen  Chamber 
lain,  William  McChesney  and  Henry  Tardy.  The 
galleys  were  admirably  handled,  especially  those  un 
der  the  command  of  Sailing- Masters  Conover,  H.  M. 
Breese  and  Robins.  uThe  absence  and  sickness  of 
Lieutenant  Raymond  Perry  left  me  without  the  serv 
ices  of  that  excellent  officer.  Much  ought  fairly  to  be 
attributed  to  him  for  his  great  care  and  attention  in 
disciplining  the  ship's  crew  as  her  first  lieutenant."1 

While  the  naval  battle  was  in  progress  the  British 
army  made  an  assault  on  the  American  lines,  but  was 
repelled  with  loss,  and,  on  learning  of  Downie's  defeat, 
Sir  George  Prevost  abandoned  the  invasion  and  re 
treated  to  Canada,  leaving  most  of  his  artillery,  stores 
and  provisions  in  the  hands  of  the  Americans.  The 
colors  of  the  Confiance,  the  Linnet  and  the  CTiubb 
are  preserved  in  the  Naval  Institute  Building  at  An 
napolis. 

The  enemy,  baifled  at  Lake  Ontario,  Lake  Erie  and 
Lake  Champlain,  now  determined  to  strike  an  unex 
pected  blow  at  some  southern  section  of  the  country. 
New  Orleans  was  decided  upon,  and  a  formidable  fleet 
and  army  were  collected  for  the  expedition.  It  might 
be  difficult  at  first  to  understand  why  such  a  distant 
and  apparently  unimportant  point  as  New  Orleans 
should  be  attacked,  but  the  British  minister  undoubt 
edly  had  in  view  the  original  plan  of  the  French,  viz.: 
the  consolidation  of  the  Canadas,  the  valleys  of  the  Ohio 
and  the  Mississippi  and  the  province  of  Louisiana  in 
one  vast  domain,  thereby  cutting  off  the  seaboard  States 

1  Official  report  of  Master-Commandant  Macdonough. 
42 


616    BATTLES  OF  LAKES  CHAMPLAIN  AND  BORGNE.     1814. 

from  the  West.  Negotiations  for  peace  had  been  in 
progress  for  some  time,  and  a  treaty  was  actually 
signed  by  the  commissioners  at  Ghent  on  the  14th  of 
December.  Yet,  when  the  announcement  of  peace  be 
tween  the  United  States  and  England  was  momentarily 
expected,  the  British  ministry  launched  this  most  for 
midable  army  of  the  war  against  the  isolated  port  of 
New  Orleans. 

The  object  of  this  coup  de  main  was  to  secure  in 
the  pending  negotiations  a  British  holding  at  the 
mouth  of  the  Mississippi,  which,  once  firmly  estab 
lished,  would  enable  Great  Britain  to  control  the  navi 
gation  of  that  mighty  river  and  the  enormous  tract  of 
country  drained  by  its  confluents.  This  was  not  an 
idle  fancy  on  the  part  of  the  British  ministers,  for  they 
well  knew  that,  could  they  but  once  get  a  firm  grip  on 
the  throat  of  this  vast  river  system,  the  entire  territory 
drained  by  it  was  under  their  control.  How  great  was 
the  danger  at  this  point,  and  how  feeble  the  force  to 
protect,  will  be  seen  in  the  remainder  of  this  chapter. 

On  the  12th  of  December,  when  the  enemy's  fleet, 
under  Admiral  Sir  Alexander  Cochrane,  appeared  off 
Lake  Borgne,  the  American  naval  force  on  this  lake, 
commanded  by  Lieutenant  Thomas  ap  Catesby  Jones, 
consisted  of  gunboat  No.  156,  five  guns,  forty-one  men, 
Lieutenant  Jones  ;  gunboat  No.  23,  five  guns,  thirty- 
nine  men,  Lieutenant  Isaac  McKeever ;  gunboat  No.  162, 
five  guns,  thirty-five  men,  Lieutenant  Robert  Spedden  ; 
gunboat  No.  5,  five  guns,  thirty-six  men,  Sailing-Mas- 
ter  Jonathan  D.  Ferriss  ;  gunboat  No.  163,  three  guns, 
twenty-one  men,  Sailing-Master  George  Uhlrich  ;  sloop 
Seahorse,  one  gun,  fourteen  men,  Sailing-Master  Rob 
ert  Johnson ;  sloop  Alligator,  one  gun,  eight  men, 
Sailing-Master  Sheppard  ;  total,  twenty-five  guns,  one 
hundred  and  ninety-four  men.  On  the  night  of  the 
12th  of  December,  forty-two  launches,  armed  with 
24-,  18-  and  12-pound  carronades,  and  three  unarmed 
gigs,  conveying  altogether  about  nine  hundred  and 


1814.          THE  HEROIC  DEFENSE  AT  MALHEUREUX.  617 

eighty  seamen  and  marines,  entered  the  lake  for  the 
purpose  of  attacking  the  American  flotilla.  Observing 
their  approach,  Lieutenant  Jones  dispatched  the  Sea 
horse,  Sailing-Master  Johnson,  to  destroy  some  stores 
that  were  collected  at  St.  Louis  Bay,  while  he,  with  the 
gunboats,  retired  to  Les  Petites  Coquilles.  At  4  p.  M. 
the  enemy  sent  three  barges  after  the  Sealiorse,  but 
Mr.  Johnson  made  such  excellent  use  of  his  single  6- 
pounder  that  the  enemy  put  back  for  re-enforcements, 
and  in  the  mean  time  the  Seahorse  was  anchored  to  se 
cure  the  support  of  a  6-pounder  on  shore.  The  enemy 
soon  returned  to  the  attack  with  a  much  larger  force, 
and,  as  James  says,  "  it  appears  that,  after  sustaining  a 
very  destructive  fire  for  nearly  half  an  hour,  the  boats 
were  repulsed"  the  second  time.  Seeing  that  the 
sloop  and  stores  must  eventually  fall  a  prey  to  the 
overwhelming  force  that  was  advancing  to  the  third 
attack,  Mr.  Johnson  burned  them  with  his  sloop  and 
retreated  by  land.  The  Alligator,  on  the  same  day, 
was  captured  while  endeavoring  to  follow  the  gun 
boats. 

Lieutenant  Jones  now  made  every  preparation  to 
receive  the  attack  on  his  flotilla.  His  gunboats  were 
judiciously  anchored  in'  a  line  across  the  narrow  pas 
sage  of  Malheureux ;  but  about  three  o'clock  in  the 
morning  of  the  14th,  gunboats  Nos.  156  and  163  were 
forced  out  of  line  by  the  swift  current  and  carried  a 
hundred  yards  down  the  pass,  where  they  were  beyond 
the  support  of  those  above  them.  Before  they  could 
be  returned  to  their  positions  the  British  barges,  car 
rying  forty-two  guns  and  about  a  thousand  men,  ac 
cording  to  the  official  report  of  the  British  commander, 
Captain  Lockyer,  were  discovered  advancing  to  the 
attack.  Arriving  within  gunshot  of  the  stray  gun 
boats,  three  barges  made  a  dash  at  No.  156,  but  her 
crew  fired  with  such  deliberation  that  two  of  the  barges 
were  sunk  and  the  third  retreated.  About  noon  the 
enemy  sent  an  overwhelming  force  against  this  gun- 


618    BATTLES  OF  LAKES  CHAMPLAIN  AND  BORGNE.     1814. 

boat,  and,  after  a  desperate  resistance,  captured  her. 
In  these  attacks  Lieutenant  Jones  was  dangerously 
wounded,  so  that  the  command  fell  to  Midshipman 
Parker,  who  continued  the  action  with  spirit.  The 
English  then  turned  the  guns  of  gunboat  No.  156  on 
gunboat  No.  163,  which  was  soon  captured  by  their 
barges.  Shortly  afterward  gunboat  No.  162  met  a 
similar  fate,  but  not  without  a  gallant  fight,  in  which 
her  commander,  Mr.  Spedden,  was  seriously  wounded. 
By  12.30  P.  M.  Nos.  5  and  23  were  also  taken. 

This  little  affair  was  most  creditable  to  Lieutenant 
Jones  and  his  men.  Had  not  his  gunboats  been  sepa 
rated  just  before  the  engagement,  thus  enabling  the 
enemy  to  attack  them  separately,  the  result  might 
have  been  far  more  serious  to  the  English.  As  it  was, 
Captain  Lockyer  reported  his  losses  as  being  "ex 
tremely  severe  "•—  three  midshipmen  and  fourteen  sea 
men  killed,  and  one  captain,  five  lieutenants,  three 
master's  mates,  seven  midshipmen  and  sixty-one  sea 
men  (in  all,  seventy-seven)  wounded.  The  American 
loss  was  six  killed  and  Lieutenant  Jones  and  thirty- 
four  men  wounded.1 

Comparative  force  and  loss. 

Guns.  Men.  Killed.     Wounded.    Total. 

American  :  23  172  6  35  41 

British  :  42  980  17  77  94 

The  only  vessels  in  this  region  now  remaining  to 
the  Americans  were  the  Louisiana,  Lieutenant  C.  B. 
Thompson,  purchased  for  the  emergency  and  armed 
with  sixteen  long  24-pounders,  and  the  14-gun  schoon 
er  Carolina.  On  the  night  of  December  23d,  when  the 
British  army  was  encamped  near  the  river,  the  Caro 
lina,  Master-Commandant  Daniel  T.  Patterson,  quietly 
worked  up  the  Mississippi  and  took  a  position  on  the 
left  flank  of  the  British  army.  "  A  little  before  eight 

1  Official  report  of  Surgeon  Marshall. 


1814.  A  MIDNIGHT  ATTACK.  619 

o'clock,"  says  an  Englishman  who  was  in  the  expedi 
tion,  "  the  attention  of  some  was  drawn  to  a  large  ves 
sel  which  seemed  to  be  stealing  up  the  river  until  she 
came  opposite  to  the  British  stations,  when  her  an 
chor  was  dropped  and  her  sails  were  leisurely  furled. 
Various  were  the  opinions  entertained  of  this  stranger. 
She  was  hailed,  but  no  answer  was  returned  ;  all  idea 
of  sleep,  however,  was  now  laid  aside,  and  several 
musket  shots  were  fired,  of  which  not  the  slightest  no 
tice  was  taken,  until  at  length,  all  her  sails  being 
fastened  and  her  broadsides  swung  toward  our  camp, 
a  voice  was  distinctly  heard  exclaiming,  '  Give  them 
this  in  honor  of  America  ! '  The  flashes  of  her  guns  in 
stantly  followed,  and  a  shower  of  grapeshot  swept 
down  numbers  among  the  British  troops.  An  incessant 
cannonade  was  then  kept  up,  which  could  not  be 
silenced,  for  our  people  had  no  artillery,  and  a  few 
rockets  that  were  discharged  deviated  so  much  from 
their  object  as  to  afford  only  amusement  for  the  ene 
my.  Under  such  circumstances,  therefore,  all  were  or 
dered  to  leave  their  fires  and  shelter  themselves  under 
the  dikes,  where  they  lay  each  as  he  could  find  room, 
listening  in  painful  silence  to  the  iron  hail  among  the 
boats  and  to  the  shrieks  and  groans  of  those  that  were 
wounded.  The  night  was  dark  as  pitch,  the  fires 
were  all  extinguished,  and  not  an  object  was  visible, 
except  during  momentary  flashes  of  the  guns,  when  a 
straggling  fire  called  attention  toward  our  piquets,  as  if 
some  still  more  dreadful  scene  was  about  to  open  ;  nor 
was  it  long  before  suspense  was  cut  short  by  a  tre 
mendous  yell  and  a  semicircular  blaze  of  musketry, 
which  showed  that  our  position  was  surrounded  by  a 
superior  force,  and  that  no  alternative  remained  but 
to  surrender  or  drive  back  the  assailants.  The  first  of 
these  plans  was  instantly  rejected,  for  our  troops,  rush 
ing  from  their  lurking  places  and  dashing  through 
their  bivouac,  under  heavy  discharges  from  the  vessel, 
lost  not  a  moment  in  attacking  the  foe  without  the 


620    BATTLES  OF  LAKES  CHAMPLAIN  AND  JBORGNE.    1814. 

slightest  attention  to  order  or  the  rules  of  disciplined 
warfare.  The  combat,  which  was  left  to  individual 
valor  and  skill,  lasted  till  three  in  the  morning,  and 
though  the  enemy  was  finally  repulsed,  no  less  than 
five  hundred  of  our  finest  troops  and  best  officers  were 
left  on  the  field.  The  rest  then  retired  to  their  former 
hiding-places,  to  be  out  of  reach  of  their  enemy  on  the 
river,  which,  when  daylight  appeared,  was  discovered 
to  be  a  fine  schooner  of  eighteen  guns,  crowded  with 
troops.  In  the  cold  dikes,  however,  our  men  were 
compelled  to  remain  the  whole  ensuing  day,  without 
fire  and  without  food,  for  whenever  the  smallest  num 
ber  began  to  steal  away  from  shelter  the  vessel  opened 
her  fire." 

On  the  morning  of  the  27th  the  enemy  opened  on 
the  Carolina  with  hot  shot  and  shell,  and  the  current 
was  so  strong  that  the  schooner  could  not  be  brought 
out  of  range,  not  even  by  warping.  After  returning 
the  cannonade  with  the  only  gun  that  could  be  brought 
to  bear,  she  was  abandoned  and  fired.  The  gallantry 
of  Lieutenants  Otho  Norris  and  Charles  E.  Crowley  and 
Sailing- Master  Halter  was  highly  spoken  of  by  Master- 
Commandant  John  D.  Henley.  The  loss  in  the  Caro 
lina  was  seven  killed  or  wounded.  On  the  28th  of 
December  the  Louisiana,  Master-Commandant  John 
Dandridge  Henley,  greatly  harassed  the  advance  of  the 
British  army,  throwing  about  eight  hundred  shot ;  and 
during  the  great  battle  of  New  Orleans  (January  8, 
1815)  this  vessel  rendered  valuable  service  by  covering 
the  flank  of  the  American  army.  While  thus  engaged 
Henley  was  wounded.  Midshipman  Philibert  handled 
one  gun  in  particular  so  as  to  attract  attention.  When 
the  English  retreated,  Master-Commandant  Patterson 
sent  several  boat  parties  to  annoy  them.  Thomas 
Shields,  a  purser,  in  command  of  six  boats  and  fifty 
men,  captured  one  of  the  enemy's  barges  with  forty 
officers  and  men  of  the  Fourteenth  Light  Dragoons  and 
fourteen  seamen,  and  soon  afterward  Mr.  Shields  cap- 


1815.  A  DISASTROUS  EXPEDITION.  021 

tured  another  barge,  a  transport  schooner  and  five 
boats,  which  gave  him  eighty-three  additional  prison 
ers.  A  few  of  them  were  retaken,  but  seventy-three 
prisoners  were  secured.  Sailing-Master  Johnson  also 
destroyed  a  transport  and  captured  some  of  the  fugi 
tives.  Among  the  officers  that  especially  distinguished 
themselves  in  this  campaign  were  Master- Commandant 
Patterson,  Master-Commandant  Henley,  Lieutenants 
Jones,  Charles  C.  B.  Thompson,  Isaac  McKeever,  Rob 
ert  Spedden,  Thomas  Cunningham,  Otho  Norris,  Charles 
E.  Crowley,  and  Major  Daniel  Carmick  of  the  marine 
corps.  Major  Carmick  was  wounded  in  the  fight  of 
the  28th  of  December. 

In  this  expedition  of  overwhelming  disasters  the 
British  were  routed  and  driven  back  to  their  ships  with 
the  loss  of  two  thousand  to  three  thousand  men,  while 
the  American  loss  during  the  entire  expedition  did  not 
exceed  two  hundred.  "  There  never  was  a  more  com 
plete  failure,"  wrote  Admiral  Sir  Edward  Codrington 
to  his  wife. 


CHAPTER   XV. 

THE   CONSTITUTION   ON   THE   AFRICAN    COAST. 

THE  career  of  the  44-gun  frigate  Constitution^  so 
far  as  has  been  narrated  in  these  pages,  is  sufficiently 
remarkable  to  stamp  her  as  an  extraordinary  ship. 
Her  last  cruise  in  the  War  of  1812,  however,  although 
probably  not  as  well  known,  was  the  one  in  which  she 
achieved  her  greatest  triumph  and  performed  her  most 
brilliant  service.  On  the  return  of  Captain  Charles 
Stewart  from  his  cruise  in  the  West  Indies,  April  23, 
1814,  Old  Ironsides  was  blockaded  in  Boston  by  a 
powerful  British  squadron,  and  did  not  get  to  sea  again 
until  the  17th  of  the  following  December,  when  she 
skillfully  gave  the  enemy  the  slip  and  was  once  again 
cruising  in  blue  water.  It  was  not  long  before  the 
officers  of  the  blockading  squadron — at  that  time  con 
sisting  of  the  50-gun  ship  Newcastle^  Captain  Lord 
George  Stuart,  the  40-gun  frigate  Acasta,  Captain 
Kerr,  and  the  18-gun  brig  Arab,  Captain  Henry  Jane- 
learned  that  the  dreaded  Constitution  had  escaped 
their  vigilance.  All  English  ships,  whether  cruisers  or 
merchantmen,  were  now  instructed  to  speak  to  every 
craft  they  met  and  spread  the  news  that  "the  Consti 
tution  is  again  cruising,"  and  in  a  wonderfully  short 
time,  by  means  of  this  marine  telegraph,  the  news  was 
wafted  to  every  corner  of  the  Atlantic,  and  thereafter 
British  ships  of  the  line  maintained  a  double  look 
out,  and  their  smaller  frigates  sailed  in  couples,  while 
their  sloops  of  war  stood  away  from  every  sail  that 
bore  the  least  resemblance  to  the  Constitution. 

(622) 


1815.  OFF  THE  ROCK  OF   LISBON.  (323 

After  running  down  to  Bermuda,  where,  on  the  24th 
of  December,  the  Constitution  captured  the  merchant 
ship  Lord  Nelson,  Captain  Stewart  stood  across  to  the 
Madeiras,  and  then  for  several  days  cruised  within 
sight  of  the  Rock  of  Lisbon.  On  the  18th  of  February 
chase  was  given  to  a  large  sail,  but  scarcely  had  the 
Constitution  got  well  under  way  when  another  stran 
ger  was  descried  to  leeward,  and,  changing  his  course 
for  the  latter,  Captain  Stewart  soon  overhauled  the 
British  merchant  ship  Susan.  By  that  time  the  first 
sail,  which  proved  to  be  the  British  74-gun  ship  of  the 
line  Elizabeth,  had  disappeared,  but  arriving  at  Lis 
bon  a  few  hours  afterward  she  learned  that  the  Consti 
tution  was  off  the  coast,  and  immediately  put  to  sea  in 
search  of  her.  By  one  of  the  strange  coincidences  of 
sea  life,  Captain  Dacres,  who  commanded  the  Guerriere 
when  she  was  captured  by  the  Constitution  in  1812,  also 
happened  to  be  in  the  vicinity  of  Lisbon  at  this  time  in 
command  of  the  88-gun  frigate  Tiber,  of  the  same  force 
as  the  Guerriere.  At  the  court-martial  convened  to 
try  him  for  the  loss  of  the  Guerriere  Captain  Dacres 
said :  "  It  is  my  earnest  wish,  and  would  be  the  happi 
est  moment  of  my  life,  to  be  once  more  opposed  to  the 
Constitution  with  them  [the  Guerriere's  crew]  under 
my  command,  in  a  frigate  of  similar  force  to  the  Guer 
riere"  Profiting  by  his  experience  with  American 
44-gun  frigates,  Captain  Dacres  had  brought  the  crew 
of  the  Tiber  to  a  high  degree  of  efficiency,  and  had  pre 
pared  his  frigate  especially  with  the  view  of  meeting  a 
ship  of  the  Constitution's  rate,  and  it  seemed  as  if  his 
desire  to  meet  Old  Ironsides  were  about  to  be  grati 
fied.  Boarding  a  merchantman,  he  learned  that  the 
Constitution  was  in  the  vicinity,  and  speaking  to  sev 
eral  merchant  ships  "who  had  seen  the  American 
frigate  only  a  few  hours  before,"  he  kept  in  the  Con 
stitution's  track  and  gradually  drew  up  with  her. 

On  the  19th  of  February  Captain  Stewart  was  hold 
ing  a  course  from  the  coast  of  Spain  southward  toward 


624      THE  CONSTITUTION  ON  THE  AFRICAN   COAST.      1815. 

Madeira,  with  the  Elizabeth  and  the  Tiber  only  a 
few  hours  behind  him.  About  noon  of  this  day  a 
group  of  officers  gathered  at  the  starboard  gangway 
of  the  American  frigate,  and  were  commenting  on 
their  ill  luck  in  failing  to  meet  an  enemy  of  equal 
force  in  their  cruise  of  several  weeks  in  European 
waters.  Overhearing  them,  Captain  Stewart,  who  was 
a  believer  in  presentiments,  bade  the  officers  to  be 
of  good  cheer,  and  said:  "I  assure  you,  gentlemen, 
that  before  the  sun  again  rises  and  sets  you  will  be 
engaged  in  battle  with  the  enemy,  and  it  will  not  be 
with  a  single  ship."  * 

The  20th  of  February  dawned  cloudy  and  thick, 
with  a  choppy  sea  and  a  moisture-laden  breeze  from 
the  northeast.  The  Constitution  at  this  time  was 
bowling  along  under  short  canvas  and  keeping  a  sharp 
lookout  for  the  enemy,  the  island  of  Madeira  bearing 
about  one  hundred  and  eighty  miles  to  the  southwest 
by  west.  The  day  wore  on  with  little  or  no  change 
in  the  weather  and  with  nothing  to  arouse  interest  or 
suspicion,  and  the  men  off  duty,  glad  to  escape  the 
disagreeable  moisture  of  the  atmosphere,  were  cosily 
stowed  away  in  their  quarters  below.  The  usual  rou 
tine  of  the  ship  went  on  ;  the  cooks,  stewards  and  cabin 
boys  were  busy  with  the  midday  mess,  while  several 
of  the  officers,  in  spite  of  their  affected  contempt  for 
superstition,  were  discussing  their  chances  of  meeting 
an  enemy.  About  one  o'clock  in  the  afternoon  the 
lookout  on  the  fore-topsail  yard  hailed  the  deck,  say 
ing  that  he  had  just  caught  a  glimpse  of  a  large 
sail  through  a  break  in  the  fog,  about  two  points 
off  the  port  bow.  In  a  moment  the  welcome  tidings 
spread  through  the  ship,  and  the  watch  below  came 
tumbling  up  on  deck  into  the  chilly  air  to  get  a  look 
at  the  object  of  general  interest,  while  an  officer  with 
a  spyglass  climbed  the  dripping  rigging  to  get  a 
__ _  | 

1  Richard  Watson  Gilder,  flours  at  Home,  vol.  x,  p.  275. 


1815.  IN   HOT  PURSUIT.  025 

better  view  of  the  stranger.  Captain  Stewart  was 
fully  aware  that  the  enemy  had  been  advised  of  his 
escape,  and  that  an  unusually  strong  force  had  been 
dispatched  against  him,  but  that  intrepid  officer  de 
termined  to  run  down  to  the  stranger  and  see  what 
she  was.  The  sharp  orders  to  make  all  sail  were  given 
and  carried  out  with  rapidity,  and  soon  the  frigate  was 
bearing  down  under  a  cloud  of  canvas  and  dashing 
through  the  water  at  eight  knots.  In  three  quarters  of 
an  hour  the  lookout  reported  another  sail,  ahead  of  the 
first,  apparently  cruising  in  her  company.  By  this  time 
the  stranger  first  discovered  was  quite  near,  but  being 
painted  with  double  yellow  sides  and  false  ports  in  the 
waist,  she  had  the  appearance  of  a  double-decked 
ship,  and  Lieutenant  Ballard  told  Captain  Stewart  that 
she  must  be  at  least  a  50-gun  ship.  The  latter  replied 
that  she  looked  too  small  to  be  a  ship  of  that  class, 
but  might  be  an  old  44  on  two  decks.  "However," 
he  added,  "be  this  as  it  may,  you  know  I  promised 
you  a  fight  before  the  setting  of  to-morrow's  sun,  and 
if  we  do  not  take  it  now  that  it  is  offered,  we  can 
scarcely  have  another  chance.  We  must  flog  them 
when  we  catch  them,  whether  she  has  one  gun-deck 
or  two  !  " 

The  Constitution  now  exercised  greater  deliberation 
in  her  movements,  as  on  account  of  the  hazy  weather 
the  strangers  were  not  far  off  when  first  discovered. 
By  2  P.  M.  the  sails  were  made  out  to  be  full-rigged 
ships,  standing  close  hauled  on  the  starboard  tack. 
The  three  ships  continued  on  this  course  until  4  p.  M., 
when  the  Constitution  had  gained  so  much  as  to  be 
nearly  within  range  of  the  sternmost  vessel,  and  it  was 
now  seen  that  the  strangers  were  ships  of  war,  one  a 
frigate  and  the  other  a  large  sloop  of  war,  but  as  both 
of  them  were  ship  rigged  it  was  difficult  to  determine 
their  exact  force.  About  this  time  the  weathermost 
ship  signaled  her  consort  and  then  stood  away  to  lee 
ward,  so  as  to  bring  up  with  her,  while  the  Constitu- 


626      THE   CONSTITUTION  ON  THE  AFRICAN  COAST.      1815. 

tion,  with  her  studding  sails  bent,  rapidly  came  up 
with  them.  But  at  4.30  P.  M.,  just  as  the  frigate 
was  about  to  open  fire,  her  main  royal  mast  gave 
way,  and  this  mishap  compelled  Captain  Stewart  to 
abandon  the  chase.  The  magnificent  discipline  main 
tained  in  the  Constitution  was  never  shown  to  better 
advantage  than  in  the  way  this  damage  was  repaired. 
Men  were  quickly  sent  up  the  rigging,  the  wreck 
was  cleared  away,  and  in  an  incredibly  short  time  an 
other  spar  had  been  sent  up  and  rigged,  and  a  little 
after  5  P.  M.  the  fretful  frigate  was  again  bounding 
after  the  chase.  But  the  delay  caused  by  this  acci 
dent  had  enabled  the  strangers  to  come  together,  so 
that  Captain  Stewart  lost  the  opportunity  of  attack 
ing  them  separately  ;  and  seeing  the  two  ships  four 
miles  ahead,  close  hauled  on  the  starboard  tack,  wait 
ing  for  the  American  to  approach,  Captain  Stewart 
cleared  for  action  and  beat  to  quarters.  At  5.45  P.  M. 
the  enemy  endeavored  to  secure  the  weather  gage, 
but  after  ten  minutes'  trial  of  speed  they  gave  over  the 
attempt  and  formed  their  two  ships  in  a  line  of  battle, 
east  and  west,  about  half  a  cable's  length  apart,  while 
the  Constitution  bore  down  from  the  north  to  engage. 
At  6  P.  M.  she  hauled  up  her  courses  and  showed  her 
colors,  upon  which  the  enemy  shook  out  their  flags. 
By  this  time  the  fog  had  rolled  aside  so  that  the  moon 
light  enabled  the  combatants  to  make  each  other  out 
distinctly. 

At  five  minutes  past  six  the  Constitution,  being 
about  three  hundred  yards  abeam  of  the  sternmost 
ship,  opened  fire  from  the  long  guns  of  her  port  bat 
tery.  Both  British  ships  promptly  responded  with 
their  starboard  guns,  and  for  fifteen  minutes  there  was 
a  deafening  roar  of  artillery,  the  Constitution  concen 
trating  her  -fire  on  the  sternmost  vessel.  By  6.20  P.  M. 
such  dense  volumes  of  smoke  had  collected  around  the 
ships  that  it  was  impossible  to  aim  accurately,  so  that 
the  Constitution  ceased  firing,  and,  rapidly  drawing 


• 


1815.  THE  BATTLE  IN   THE  MOONLIGHT.  027 

ahead,  ranged  abeam  of  the  foremost  ship,  and  having 
reloaded  with  a  double-shotted  broadside,  she  belched 
forth  a  torrent  of  round,  grape  and  canister  with  great 
effect.  This  was  a  staggering  blow,  and  the  enemy's 
ship  quivered  as 
if  she  had  struck 
a  rock,  but  be 
fore  this  broad 
side  could  be  re 
peated  the  stern- 
most  ship  was 
observed  luffing 
up  so  as  to  take 

a     raking     posi-  Diagram  of  the  battle. 

firm     nprn«Q     f"ho     ^,  ^e  Constitution-,  the  black  ship  is  the  Cyane, 

and  the  shaded  ship  is  the  Levant. 

Constitutions 

stern.  Mindful  of  his  danger,  Captain  Stewart  sud 
denly  braced  his  main  and  mizzen  topsails  flat  to 
the  mast,  shook  all  forward,  let  go  his  jib  sheet,  and 
quietly  but  swiftly  backed,  under  cover  of  the  smoke, 
abreast  the  rear  ship.  This  manoeuvre  was  executed 
in  beautiful  style.  The  yards  swung  around  almost 
as  soon  as  the  order  was  issued,  the  ship  checked  her 
course,  trembled  for  a  moment,  and  then  began  back 
ing.  As  if  by  magic  the  Constitution  had  dropped 
astern,  and  almost  before  the  enemy  was  aware  of 
it  was  alongside  of  the  sternmost  ship,  with  every  gun 
of  her  formidable  battery  reloaded  and  double-shotted. 
Again  the  quiet  order  was  passed  along  the  divis 
ions,  and  the  next  instant  a  murderous  discharge  of 
iron  tore  its  way  into  the  British  frigate.  Captain 
Stewart  now  maintained  a  heavy  and  rapid  fire  on  this 
vessel  until  6.35  P.  M.,  when,  observing  the  headmost 
ship  luffing  athwart  his  course  to  rake,  he  filled  away 
under  topsails,  and,  shooting  ahead,  crossed  the  wake 
of  the  foremost  ship  and  secured  a  raking  position 
before  the  smoke  from  the  last  cannonading  had  suffi 
ciently  cleared  away  to  enable  the  English  to  discover 


628       THE  CONSTITUTION  ON  THE  AFRICAN  COAST.     1815. 

the  whereabouts  of  their  nimble  foe.  The  Americans 
now  fired  their  starboard  broadside,  raking  the  En 
glishman  fore  and  aft,  and  before  he  could  recover 
from  the  dreadful  effects  of  this  blow  the  Americans 
had  again  loaded  and  poured  in  a  second  raking  broad 
side.  About  this  time  a  heavy  shot  from  the  enemy 
killed  two  men  in  the  Constitutions  waist,  crashed 
through  a  boat  in  which  two  tigers  were  chained  and 
lodged  in  the  head  of  a  spar  in  the  chains. 

At  6.38  P.  M.  the  sternmost  Englishman  was  seen  to 
be  wearing  with  a  view  of  raking  the  Constitution,  but 
she  wore  after  him  so  quickly  that  before  the  English 
man  could  follow  the  mano3uvre  the  Constitution  had 
crossed  his  wake  and  poured  in  a  raking  broadside. 
Before  this  fire  could  be  repeated  the  sternmost  ship 
had  so  far  followed  the  movement  as  to  bring  the  two 
ships  side  by  side.  She  then  opened  with  her  port 
battery,  while  Captain  Stewart  used  his  starboard  guns, 
and  in  this  position  the  two  ships  maintained  a  running 
fire  until  6.50  P.  M.,  when  the  Englishman  hoisted  a 
light  and  fired  a  gun  as  a  signal  of  surrender.  Lieu 
tenant  Beekman  Yerplank  Hoffman,  of  the  Constitu 
tion,  was  immediately  sent  aboard  to  take  possession, 
and  he  found  the  prize  was  the  British  32-gun  frigate 
Cyane,  Captain  Gordon  Falcon.  After  an  hour  spent 
in  removing  and  securing  prisoners,  the  Constitution 
at  8  P.  M.  filled  away  in  chase  of  the  second  ship,  which 
during  this  time  had  made  off  to  leeward,  improving  the 
opportunity  to  repair  damages  and  splice  rigging ;  but 
at  8.15  P.  M.,  observing  the  American  frigate  again  bear 
ing  down  on  her,  and  still  being  ignorant  of  the  fate  of 
her  consort,  she  close  hauled  her  starboard  tacks,  and 
with  topgallant  sails  and  colors  set  stood  for  her  pow 
erful  antagonist.  At  9.05  P.  M.  the  ships  passed  each 
other  and  exchanged  broadsides,  but  before  the  smoke 
had  cleared  away  Captain  Stewart  wore  short  around, 
crossed  the  enemy's  wake  and  raked,  upon  which  the 
Englishman  crowded  all  sail  to  escape.  The  Ameri- 


1815.  A  DOUBLE   VICTORY.  029 

cans  promptly  luffed  up,  hauled  aboard  their  tacks, 
set  the  spanker  and  flying  jib,  and  were  after  him  in 
close  pursuit.  At  9.30  p.  M.  the  Constitution  opened 
with  her  starboard  chase  gun  with  a  view  of  crippling 
the  enemy  in  his  rigging,  and  by  10  P.  M.  she  had  gained 
position  close  on  to  the  Englishman's  port  quarter,  and 
seeing  that  the  American  was  about  to  reopen  his 
dreaded  broadside,  the  enemy  surrendered.  Lieuten 
ant  William  Brandford  Shubrick  was  ordered  to  take 
possession,  and  soon  sent  back  word  that  this  ship 
was  the  British  sloop  of  war  Levant ;,  Captain  George 
Douglas. 

The  Constitution  on  this  cruise  carried  thirty-one 
long  24-pounders  and  twenty  short  32-pounders  ;  in  all, 
fifty-one  guns  and  six  hundred  and  forty-four  pounds 
actual  weight  of  metal  to  the  broadside,  allowing  for  de 
ficiency  in  the  weight  of  American  shot ;  her  crew  num 
bered  four  hundred  and  fifty-six.1  ''The  Cyane  is  a 
frigate-built  ship,  mounting  thirty-four  carriage  guns, 
viz.,  twenty-two  32-pound  carronades  on  the  main 
deck,  eight  18-pound  carronades  on  the  quarter-deck, 
two  18-pound  carronades  and  two  long  9-pounders  on 
the  forecastle,  and,  from  the  best  information  I  could 
obtain,  carrying  a  complement  of  one  hundred  and 
seventy-five  men." 2  James  does  not  give  the  armament 
carried  by  the  Cyane  on  this  occasion,  merely  refer 
ring  to  her  force  in  1809,  nearly  six  years  before. 
Moreover,  the  British  official  reports  of  this  action  have 
not  been  published.  Lieutenant  Hoffman,  who  took 
charge  of  the  Cyane  immediately  upon  her  surrender 
and  for  sixty  days  afterward  was  in  her,  describes  her 
force  as  above.  This  gives  the  Cyane  thirty-four  guns, 
with  four  hundred  and  fifty -one  pounds  of  metal  to  the 
broadside.  "The  Levant  mounted  eighteen  32-pound 
carronades,  two  long  9-pounders  and  one  12-pound 

1  Ernmons'  Statistical  History  of  the  United  States  Navy,  p.  58. 

2  Official  report  of  Lieutenant  Hoffman. 


630      THE   CONSTITUTION  ON  THE  AFRICAN  COAST.      1815. 

carronade,  with  one  hundred  and  thirty-eight  men  on 
board,"  *  giving  her  twenty-one  guns,  aggregating  three 
hundred  and  three  pounds  of  metal  to  the  broadside. 
The  Constitution's  loss  was  four  killed  and  ten 
wounded.2  She  sustained  but  little  damage  in  her 
rigging,  her  principal  injuries  being  in  the  hull.  In 
her  action  with  the  Guerriere  she  was  hulled  three 
times,  in  that  with  the  Java  four  times  and  in  this 
engagement  thirteen  times.  The  Cyane  lost  twelve 
killed  and  twenty- six  wounded,3  besides  which  every 
brace  and  bowline  was  cut  away,  her  main  and  mizzen 
masts  were  left  in  a  tottering  state,  other  principal 
spars  were  wounded,  there  were  several  shot  in  the 
hull,  nine  or  ten  between  wind  and  water,  five  carron- 
ades  were  disabled  and  most  of  her  standing  and 
running  rigging  was  carried  away.  The  Levant  lost 
twenty- three  killed  and  sixteen  wounded. 

Comparative  force  and  loss. 

Guns.  Lbs.  Crew.    Killed.  Wounded.  Total. 

Constitution:  51  644  456         4          10        14 

Cyane  and  Levant :        55  754  313       35          42       77 

The  boldness  of  the  Constitution's  attack  on  what 
in  the  hazy  weather  appeared  to  be  "  two  frigates" 
(when  Sir  George  Collier's  squadron  sighted  the  Consti 
tution,  the  Cyane  and  the  Levant,  shortly  afterward, 
the  last  two  were  recorded  in  the  Leander's  log  as 
"apparently  frigates"),  the  marvelous  celerity  of  her 
manoeuvres,  the  precision  of  her  fire  and  the  perfect 
order  and  coolness  pervading  her  entire  company,  from 
the  time  the  enemy  was  sighted  to  the  close  of  the 
battle,  reflects  the  highest  honor  on  Captain  Stew 
art.  The  patriotism  of  the  American  crew  is  shown 

1  Official  report  of  Lieutenant  Henry  E.  Ballard,  who  was  put  in  com 
mand  of  the  Levant  after  her  surrender  and  continued  there  for  twenty 
days. 

2  Official  report  of  Captain  Stewart. 

3  Official  report  of  Lieutenant  Hoffman. 


1815.  PATRIOTISM  OF  THE  AMERICAN  CREW. 

in  the  case  of  a  sailor  named  John  Lancey,  of  Cape 
Ann,  who  was  carried  below  horribly  mutilated  and 
writhing  in  his  death  agonies.  When  the  surgeon  in 
formed  him  that  his  end  was  near,  the  poor  fellow 
gasped,  "  Yes,  sir,  I  know  it,  but  I  only  want  to  hear 
that  the  other  ship  has  struck."  Soon  afterward  he 
heard  the  cheers  for  the  surrender  of  the  Levant, 
when,  unmindful  of  his  injuries,  he  raised  his  head, 
and,  waving  the  stump  of  his  arm,  expended  his  last 
vitality  in  three  feeble  cheers. 

It  is  related  that  after  the  battle,  when  Captain 
Stewart  was  sitting  in  his  cabin  conversing  with  one 
of  the  British  commanders,  a  midshipman  came  in  to 
say  that  the  officer  of  the  deck  wished  to  know  if  the 
men  could  have  their  grog.  As  the  usual  time  for 
grog  had  passed  before  the  action  took  place,  Captain 
Stewart  replied,  "  The  men  have  had  their  grog  al 
ready,  haven't  they?"  "No,  sir,"  replied  the  mid 
shipman  ;  "it  was  mixed  ready  for  serving  just  before 
the  battle  began,  but  the  forecastle  men  and  other 
older  sailors  of  the  crew  said  they  didn't  want  any 
Dutch  courage  on  board  and  capsized  the  grog- tub  in 
the  lee  scuppers."  The  English  officer  asked,  with  as 
tonishment,  if  it  were  possible  that  there  were  men  in 
the  American  navy  who  would  "spill  their  grog  like 
that."  About  the  same  time  the  two  British  captains 
got  into  a  dispute  about  the  result  of  the  fight,  each 
imputing  the  defeat  to  the  other,  and  contending  that 
if  such  and  such  an  evolution  had  been  practiced  by 
one  or  the  other  the  Constitution  would  have  had  to 
surrender.  "Gentlemen,"  said  Stewart,  "there  is  no 
use  in  getting  warm  about  it ;  it  would  have  been  all 
the  same  whatever  you  might  have  done.  If  you 
doubt  that,  I  will  put  you  all  on  board  again  and  you 
can  try  it  over."  ' 

The  Americans  made  all  haste  to  repair  damages 

1  Richard  Watson  Gilder  in  Hours  at  Home. 
43 


632      THE  CONSTITUTION   ON  THE  AFRICAN  COAST.      1815. 

and  secure  prisoners,  for  they  well  knew  that  the  seas 
were  swarming  with  British  cruisers  sent  out  expressly 
to  intercept  them,  and  by  1  A.  M.  on  the  21st,  or  three 
hours  after  the  Levant  surrendered,  the  Constitution 
was  ready  for  another  action.  On  the  following  day  the 
vessels  made  sail  for  the  nearest  neutral  port,  and  on 
the  10th  of  March  anchored  in  Port  Praya,  where  they 
found  the  Susan. 

Captain  Stewart  now  decided  to  employ  the  Susan 
as  a  cartel  in  which  he  could  send  his  prisoners  to  Eng 
land.  About  noon  on  the  day  after  his  arrival  in  Port 
Praya,  while  the  men  were  busy  transferring  the  pris 
oners,  the  officer  of  the  deck,  Lieutenant  Shubrick, 
was  attracted  by  an  exclamation  from  one  of  the  Brit 
ish  midshipmen,  and  noticing  that  he  was  reprimanded 
in  an  undertone  by  an  English  lieutenant,  Lieutenant 
Shubrick  became  suspicious  of  foul  play  or  some  con 
spiracy.  But  at  this  moment  a  quartermaster  directed 
his  attention  to  the  entrance  of  the  harbor,  where  a 
heavy  fog  had  settled  over  the  sea,  but  in  the  lighter 
haze  above  the  sails  of  a  large  ship  were  visible.  This 
apparition  evidently  was  the  cause  of  the  midship 
man's  exclamation,  and  Captain  Stewart  was  immedi 
ately  notified  of  the  approach  of  a  stranger.  As  the 
mists  shifted  a  little  the  sails  of  two  more  vessels, 
apparently  heavy  men-of-war,  were  discovered  stand 
ing  into  the  roads.  After  the  experience  of  the  Essex 
at  Valparaiso,  Captain  Stewart  well  knew  that  English 
commanders  could  not  be  trusted  to  respect  the  rights 
of  neutral  ports  that  were  not  sufficiently  fortified  to 
enforce  them.  The  defenses  of  Port  Praya  were  im 
potent  against  a  first-rate  frigate,  and  should  the  sails 
descried  in  the  offing  prove  to  be  those  of  English  men- 
of-war,  the  position  of  the  Constitution  was  critical  in 
the  extreme.  The  capture  of  no  American  frigate 
would  have  caused  so  much  rejoicing  in  England  as 
that  of  the  Constitution,  for  Old  Ironsides  had  done 
more  to  level  British  pride  than  any  other  ship. 


-2  £  i 

sis 


03  V   t4_j 

3.^0 


•:^oc 


,,,a, 

§.a 


^03-2 


c  >  2  o 

—      -   -^- 
Sx®^    t>> 


1815.  OLD  IRONSIDES  CORNERED.  533 

If  Stewart  did  not  get  out  of  the  harbor  before  the 
approaching  strangers  closed  the  entrance,  the  favor 
ite  ship  of  the  United  States  navy  was  lost.  Realizing 
the  danger,  the  American  commander  sent  his  crew  to 
quarters,  hurried  the  prisoners  below,  cut  his  cables, 
and  set  the  topsails,  and  in  seven  minutes  from  the  time 
of  the  first  alarm  he  had  the  frigate  under  way.  Sig 
nals  were  made  to  the  Cyane  and  the  Levant  to  follow, 
which  orders  Lieutenants  Hoifman  and  Ballard  pre 
cipitately  obeyed,  and  they  also  were  soon  standing 
down  the  harbor  after  the  Constitution.  So  great  was 
the  haste,  that  some  prisoners  who  had  been  landed  to 
facilitate  the  transfer  were  left  behind.  Discovering 
the  strange  sails  in  the  offing,  and  surmising  them  to 
be  English,  these  prisoners  rushed  to  a  battery  and 
began  firing  guns  to  give  warning. 

At  this  time  the  wind  was  fresh  from  the  northeast, 
while  the  strangers  were  approaching  the  harbor  from 
the  south.  Captain  Stewart  therefore  hugged  the  north 
shore,  hoping  to  get  to  sea  to  the  windward  of  them  ; 
and  just  as  the  American  vessels  were  clearing  East 
Point  the  strangers  came  within  long  range.  At  this 
moment  they  discovered  the  Americans,  and  crowded 
on  all  sail  to  intercept  them,  so  that  it  now  became  a 
question  of  sailing.  The  Constitution  crossed  her  top 
gallant  yards,  and  set  her  foresail,  mainsail,  spanker, 
flying  jib  and  topgallant  sails,  while  the  first  cutter 
and  gig  towing  astern  were  cut  adrift.  The  Cyane 
and  Levant  followed  in  quick  succession,  while  the 
English  luifed  up,  close  hauled  their  tacks,  and  settled 
down  to  a  long  and  determined  pursuit. 

In  order  that  we  may  more  intelligently  follow  this 
remarkable  chase,  we  must  understand  that  the  hostile 
squadron  consisted  of  the  British  50-gun  frigate  Lean- 
der,  Captain  Sir  George  Collier ;  the  50-gun  frigate 
Newcastle,  Captain  Lord  George  Stuart ;  and  the  40- 
gun  frigate  Acasta,  Captain  Kerr.  These  vessels,  espe 
cially  the  Newcastle  and  the  Acasta,  had  been  block- 


634:      THE  CONSTITUTION   ON  THE   AFRICAN  COAST.      1815. 

ading  the  Constitution  in  Boston  at  the  time  of  her  es 
cape,  December  17,  1814,  and  how  they  came  to  be 
in  this  out-of-the-way  part  of  the  globe  instead  of  on 
the  New  England  coast  is  best  told  in  the  words  of 
James  :  "  On  the  19th  of  December,  two  days  after 
the  escape  of  the  Constitution,  the  Leander  sailed 
from  Halifax,  bound  off  Boston,  and  on  the  24th  fell 
in  with  the  Newcastle  and  Acasta.  By  their  captains, 
it  appears,  Sir  George  was  informed  that  the  Consti 
tution  had  sailed  from  Boston  and  the  Congress 
from  Portsmouth,  N.  EL,  and  that  the  President 
was  to  join  those  ships  from  the  Delaware.  Unfortu 
nately,  although  it  had  been  published  over  and  over 
again  in  the  Halifax  papers,  neither  of  these  captains 
appears  to  have  been  aware  that  the  Congress  had 
some  months  before  been  dismantled  and  laid  up  at 
Portsmouth,  and  that  the  President  was  not  lying  in 
the  Delaware  but  in  New  York.  On  turning  to  the 
Newcastle's  log,  to  see  who  it  was  that  had  been  play 
ing  off  such  a  hoax  upon  Lord  George,  we  find  that  on 
the  22d,  while  the  Newcastle  and  the  Acasta  were  lying 
at  anchor  in  Cape  Cod  Bay,  the  18-gun  brig  sloop 
Arab,  Captain  Henry  Jane,  joined  company,  with 
intelligence  that  the  Constitution  had  sailed  from 
Boston  on  the  17th  instant.  Not  another  word  is 
there.  This,  however,  was  quite  enough  to  hasten  the 
two  ships  in  getting  under  way,  and  to  make  their 
captains  wish,  no  doubt,  that  they  had  kept  under 
way  in  front  of  the  port  which  they  had  been  ordered 
to  watch.  This  story  about  the  sailing  of  the  Ameri 
can  squadron,  whether  derived  in  the  first  instance 
from  fishermen,  cattle-dealers  or  any  other  of  the  cun 
ning  New  England  folk,  was  credited  by  Sir  George 
Collier,  and  away  went  the  Leander,  the  Newcastle 
and  the  Acasta,  in  search  of  the  Constitution  and  the 
4  two  other  heavy  frigates '  that  sailed  '  in  her  com 
pany.'  On  the  4th  of  January,  when  off  the  Western 
Isles,  the  three  ships  fell  in  with  a  brig  prize  belong- 


1815.  A   BLIND  CHASE.  335 

ing  to  the  American  privateer  Perry,  and,  having 
chased  under  American  colors,  were  taken  for  an 
American  squadron.  The  consequence  was,  that  the 
prize  master  of  the  brig  voluntarily  came  on  board  the 
Leander  and  pretended  to  take  that  ship  for  the 
President,  the  Newcastle  for  the  Constitution  and  the 
Acasta  not  for  the  Congress  but  for  the  Macedonian. 
In  short,  the  fellow  would  have  said  or  sworn  to  any 
thing  that  he  thought  would  ingratiate  himself  with 
his  hearers.  Marshall  says :  *  Nothing  could  have 
happened  better '  than  this  farcical  interview  with  the 
American  privateersman.  On  the  contrary,  looking 
to  the  serious  impression  it  appears  to  have  made  on 
board  the  Leander,  we  should  rather  say  nothing 
could  have  happened  worse."  Thus,  by  a  strange  series 
of  blunders  these  heavy  British  frigates  had  blindly 
followed  the  Constitution  across  the  Atlantic  into  this 
distant  quarter  of  the  globe  and  now  had  her  under 
their  guns. 

At  the  time  the  American  vessels  gained  an  offing 
it  was  still  so  foggy  that  it  was  impossible  to  see  the 
hulls  of  the  strangers  or  to  make  out  their  force  or 
nationality.  All  the  ships,  however,  had  every  stitch 
of  canvas  set,  to  royal  studding  sails,  and  were 
rushing  through  the  water  at  ten  knots.  The  Acasta, 
by  laying  her  head  close  to  the  wind,  succeeded  in 
weathering  the  Cyane  and  the  Levant,  but  the  splendid 
sailing  qualities  of  the  Constitution  enabled  Captain 
Stewart  to  hold  his  own.  Observing  that  he  was 
drawing  away  from  his  prizes,  and  that  the  enemy 
must  soon  close  on  them,  he  at  1.10  p.  M.  signaled  the 
Cyane,  the  sternmost  vessel,  to  tack  to  the  northwest, 
hoping  to  divide  the  enemy's  force.  Lieutenant  Hoff 
man  tacked  as  desired ;  but,  to  the  surprise  of  all, 
none  of  the  pursuing  ships  were  detailed  after  her. 
Taking  advantage  of  their  neglect,  the  Cyane  continued 
on  this  course  until  she  had  run  the  enemy  out  of  sight, 
when  she  made  for  the  United  States,  arriving  in  New 


636      THE  CONSTITUTION  ON  THE  AFRICAN  COAST.      1815. 

York  April  10th.  At  2.30  p.  M.  the  Newcastle  had  gained 
a  position  off  the  Constitutions  lee  quarter  and  began 
firing  by  division.  Her  shot  splashed  the  water  within 
a  hundred  yards  of  the  American  frigate,  but  did  not 
reach  her.  By  3  P.  M.  the  Levant  had  fallen  behind 
the  Constitution,  and  was  in  the  same  danger  from 
which  the  Cyane  had  so  strangely  been  allowed  to 
escape.  Captain  Stewart  now  signaled  the  Levant  to 
head  northwest  also,  hoping  that  this  might  draw  off 
at  least  one  of  his  pursuers.  But,  to  the  astonishment 
of  every  man  in  the  Constitution,  all  the  pursuing  ships 
followed  her  about !  Availing  himself  of  this  unex 
pected  opportunity,  Captain  Stewart  soon  ran  the  ene 
my  out  of  sight,  and  early  in  May  he  returned  to 
Boston.  Finding  that  the  entire  squadron  had  concen 
trated  its  attentions  on  his  ship,  Lieutenant  Ballard 
changed  his  course  to  due  west  so  as  to  regain  port. 
In  this  he  was  successful,  and  he  anchored  under  the 
guns  of  the  fort  before  the  enemy  could  get  within 
gunshot.  The  Cyane  had  now  escaped,  the  Constitu 
tion  was  out  of  sight,  and  the  Levant  had  gained  a 
neutral  port,  where,  according  to  the  laws  of  nations, 
she  was  protected  from  further  attack.  But  Sir  George 
Collier  ordered  the  Newcastle  and  the  Acasta  to  run 
in  and  fire  on  the  Levant,  and,  after  a  few  minutes' 
doubt  as  to  the  real  intentions  of  the  English  com 
mander,  Lieutenant  Ballard  was  compelled  to  surren 
der,  and  the  Acasta  took  possession.  "  The  next  morn 
ing,"  says  James,  "  Sir  George  Collier  went  ashore  to 
communicate  with  the  governor  in  consequence  of  the 
damage  done  to  the  houses  of  the  town  by  the  shot 
from  the  Acasta  and  Newcastle" 

The  escape  of  the  Constitution  and  Cyane  from  this 
powerful  squadron  and  the  extraordinary  manoeuvres 
of  the  British  ships  have  given  rise  to  many  conflicting 
explanations  among  English  writers.  One  account 
says  that  "  no  British  ship  tacked  after  the  Cyane,  Sir 
George  rightly  judging  that  she  would  reach  the  neu- 


1815.          BLUNDER  OF  THE   BRITISH  COMMANDER.  637 

tral  port  before  either  of  the  British  ships  could  get 
within  gunshot  of  her."  But  this  " neutral  port "  ex 
planation  does  not  hold  good,  for  a  few  hours  after 
ward  Sir  George  ordered  the  Newcastle  and  the  Acasta 
to  run  in  and  fire  on  the  Levant  when  her  jib  boom  ex 
tended  over  a  land  battery  in  this  same  "neutral 
port,"  showing  that  the  English  commander  had  no 
scruples  whatever  about  the  neutrality  of  the  place.  Ac 
cording  to  a  published  letter  of  Thomas  Collier,  "  the 
midshipman,  Mr.  Morrison,  whose  duty  it  was  to  make 
the  signal,  did,  by  mistake,  hoist  the  general  signal." 
In  another  statement,  which  bears  the  signature  of 
the  Leander's  first  lieutenant,  it  is  said  "that  in 
making  the  signal  the  Acasta's  distinguishing  pen 
nants  got  foul,  and  before  they  could  be  cleared  the 
Newcastle  mistook  it  for  a  general  signal."1  Mar 
shall  further  says:  "  Sir  George  Collier,  confiding  in 
the  zeal  and  judgment  of  the  captains  under  his  or 
ders,  had  previously  informed  them  that,  whenever 
a  certain  flag  was  hoisted  with  any  signal  to  either 
of  them,  they  were  at  liberty  to  disregard  the  signal, 
if  they  considered  that  by  following  the  order  con 
veyed  thereby  the  object  in  view  was  not  so  likely  to 
be  attained  as  by  acting  in  contrariety  thereto.  The 
flag  alluded  to  was  entered  pro  tempore  in  the  signal 
books  under  the  designation  of  the  optional  flag.  But 
upon  its  being  hoisted  with  the  Newcastle's  pennants, 
as  above  stated,  that  ship  made  answer  by  signal  '  the 
flags  are  not  distinguishable.' '  Other  British  writers 
declare  that  Sir  George  did  not  give  the  order  for  all 
the  ships  to  tack  after  the  Levant. 

Such  diversity  of  opinion,  especially  when  there 
are,  as  James  frankly  admits,  "  three  distinct  and  posi 
tive  explanations  made  on  the  highest  English  authori 
ties,  of  Sir  George  Collier's  blunders,  yet  each  of  the 
three  flatly  contradicts  the  others,"  naturally  leads  to 

1  Marshall's  History  of  the  British  Navy,  vol.  ii,  p.  527. 


638      THE   CONSTITUTION   ON   THE  AFRICAN   COAST.      1815. 

deeper  investigation  on  our  part.  In  an  extract  from 
James'  History  of  the  British  Navy  already  given,  we 
have  seen  that  Sir  George  Collier  was  under  the  im 
pression  that  he  was  following  the  Constitution,  the 
President  and  the  Macedonian  or  Guerriere,  three  44- 
gun  frigates,  across  the  Atlantic.  That  he  was  still 
acting  under  this  impression  on  the  day  of  the  chase  in 
question  is  shown  by  the  Leander^  s  (Sir  George  Collier's 
flagship)  log,  which  describes  all  three  ships  as  u  appar 
ently  frigates,"  and  this  is  further  emphasized  by  the 
Leander*s  first  lieutenant,  John  McDougall,  who  re 
corded  the  following  note:  "Weather  very  thick  and 
hazy  ;  took  the  two  sternmost  ships  for  frigates,  the 
headmost,  from  appearance,  a  much  larger  ship,  for  the 
Guerriere,  who,  we  understood,  had  long  32-pounders 
on  her  main  deck."  After  the  disastrous  experience  of 
the  Macedonian,  the  Java  and  the  first  Guerriere  with 
American  24-pounder  44- gun  frigates,  British  command 
ers  had  been  cautious  in  seeking  engagements.  But  the 
Newcastle  and  the  Leander,  especially  the  latter,  had 
been  fitted  out  with  the  express  purpose  of  coping 
with  the  American  44-gun  frigate,  for  the  London 
Times  of  March  17,  1814,  said  the  Leander  "  has  been 
built  and  fitted  out  exactly  upon  the  plan  of  the  large 
American  frigates."  This  fact,  together  with  the  gen 
eral  order  of  the  Admiralty  restraining  British  18- 
pounder  frigates  from  engaging  American  24-pounder 
ships — and  according  to  the  statement  of  Lieutenant 
McDougall  of  the  Leander,  we  have  seen  that  officers 
of  the  English  flagship  actually  supposed  that  the  ship 
they  were  chasing  carried  32-pounders  on  the  main 
deck — renders  it  exceedingly  probable  that  Sir  George 
did  not  dare  to  detach  the  Acasla  after  the  Cyane  (a 
supposed  44-gun  American  frigate)  without  sending 
the  Newcastle  to  aid  her ;  and  as  this  would  have  left 
the  Leander  alone  to  cope  with  the  two  remaining 
American  44-gun  frigates,  as  the  Constitution  and  Le 
vant  were  supposed  to  be,  Sir  George  determined  to 


1815.  SUICIDE   OF  SIR  GEORGE   COLLIER.  (339 

keep  his  vessels  within  supporting  distance  of  one  an 
other.  Ten  years  afterward,  on  being  reminded  of  this 
chase,  Sir  George  Collier  committed  suicide. 

In  this  brilliant  cruise  Captain  Stewart  proved  him 
self  an  officer  of  rare  ability.  His  action  with  the 
Cyane  and  the  Levant,  and  his  masterly  escape  from 
the  British  squadron,  called  for  all  the  qualities  of  a 
great  commander,  while  his  unhesitating  attack  on 
what  appeared,  in  the  heavy  weather,  to  be  two  frig 
ates,  the  beautiful  style  in  which  the  Constitution  was 
put  through  the  most  difficult  manoeuvres  and  the  neat 
ness  with  which  he  captured  a  superior  force,  have 
ranked  him  as  one  of  the  most  remarkable  naval  offi 
cers  of  his  day.  Congress  awarded  him  a  sword  and 
a  gold  medal.  Lieutenant  Hoffman,  in  his  official  re 
port,  commended  the  gallantry  of  Midshipmen  Joseph 
Cross,  James  W.  Delany  and  James  F.  Curtis.  The 
colors  of  the  Cyane  and  the  Levant  are  preserved  in 
Naval  Institute  Building  at  Annapolis. 


CHAPTER   XVI. 

THE   EAST   INDIA   SQUADKON. 

No  better  evidence  can  be  had  of  the  dread  the  Eng 
lish  felt  for  the  American  frigate  than  the  manner  in 
which  the  blockading  squadron  off  Boston  hastened 
across  the  Atlantic  to  the  coast  of  Africa  in  chase  of  the 
Constitution  as  soon  as  it  was  known  that  Old  Ironsides 
had  got  to  sea.  Satisfied  that  the  most  effective  way  of 
attacking  the  enemy  was  by  sending  light  squadrons 
into  distant  seas,  and  encouraged  by  the  success  of  the 
Essex  in  the  Pacific  Ocean,  the  Government  decided  to 
send  the  44-gun  frigate  President,  Captain  Stephen 
Decatur,  and  the  sloops  of  war  Peacock,  Captain  Lewis 
Warrington,  and  Hornet,  Master-Commandant  James 
Biddle,  with  the  store  ship  Tom  Bowline,  into  the 
Indian  Ocean  and  to  cruise  in  the  East  Indies.  This 
was  the  cruise  that  had  been  marked  out  for  the  Con 
stitution,  the  Essex  and  the  Hornet  when  that  squad 
ron  sailed  from  New  York  in  October,  1812.  These 
vessels  failed  to  meet  at  the  appointed  rendezvous,  so 
that  the  plan,  so  far  as  the  Indian  Ocean  was  con 
cerned,  was  not  carried  out,  but  each  ship  added  new 
luster  to  the  fame  of  the  navy — the  Constitution  and 
the  Hornet  sinking  the  Java  and  the  Peacock,  while 
the  Essex  made  her  extraordinary  cruise  in  the  Pacific. 

The  port  of  New  York,  in  which  Captain  Decatur's 
vessels  lay,  was  so  closely  blockaded,  however,  that 
it  was  impossible  for  the  squadron  to  get  to  sea,  and 
it  became  necessary  for  the  ships  to  sail  singly.  Leav 
ing  instructions  for  the  Peacock  (new)  and  the  Hornet 
to  rendezvous  at  Tristan  d'Acunha,  Captain  Decatur,  on 

(640) 


1815.  CHASE  OF  THE  PRESIDENT. 

the  night  of  January  14th,  1815,  left  his  anchorage  off 
Staten  Island  and  stood  down  the  Narrows.    For  twenty- 
four  hours  a  heavy  gale  had  been  blowing,  which,  it  was 
thought,  had  driven  the  blockading  ships  to  the  south, 
and  Captain  Decatur  had  strong  hopes  of  getting  to  sea 
before  they  could  regain  their  cruising  ground.     The 
night  wras  dark  and  boisterous,  and  everything  seemed 
to  favor  his  attempt ;  but  at  8  P.  M.,  as  the  President 
was  rapidly  approaching  Sandy  Hook,  the  pilot,  owing 
to  the  absence  of  beacon  lights,  ran  the  ship  aground. 
Strenuous  efforts  were  made  to  float  the  frigate  off, 
but  as  she  was  heavily  laden  for  a  long  cruise,  it  was 
nearly  two  hours  before  she  was  again  got  into  deep 
water.     In  the  mean  time  she  thumped  violently  on 
the  bar,  and  was  so  strained  and  ' l  hogged "  as  seri 
ously  to  impair  her  sailing  qualities  and  seaworthiness. 
A  portion  of  her  false  keel  was  displaced,  her  rudder 
braces  were  broken,  and  the  ship  was  otherwise  so  in 
jured  as  to  render  a  return  to  port  imperative  ;  but  this, 
owing  to  the  strength  and  direction  of  the  wind,  was 
impossible,  and  at  10  P.  M.  she  was  forced  over  the  bar. 
After  running  fifty  miles  along  the  shore  of  Long 
Island,  Captain  Decatur  headed  southeast  by  east,  sup 
posing  that  the  enemy  would  be  some  distance  to  the 
south,  and  the  frigate  held  this   course  for  the   re 
mainder  of  the  night,  but  in  the  gray  dawn  of  the  fol 
lowing  day,  Sandy  Hook  bearing  sixty-five  miles  north 
west  by  west,  three  sails  were  discovered  not  more  than 
two  miles  ahead,  and  shortly  afterward  a  fourth  loomed 
up  on  the  weather  quarter.     These  were  soon  recog 
nized  as    Captain  John  Hayes'  blockading  squadron. 
Captain  Decatur  immediately  ordered  his  helm  down, 
hauled  close  to  the  wind  on  the  starboard  tack  and 
headed  for  the  eastern  end  of  Long  Island.     The  stran 
gers   quickly  put  about  in   pursuit,    and  the   vessels 
spread  every  inch   of  canvas   that  would   draw.      It 
soon  became  apparent  that   the   enemy  was   gaining, 
and  Captain  Decatur  began  to  relieve  his  ship  of  boats, 


642  THE  EAST  INDIA  SQUADRON.  1815. 

spars,  cables,  anchors  and  finally  provisions,  while  the 
sails,  from  the  royals  down,  were  saturated  with  water 
so  as  to  hold  the  wind  better.  As  the  President  still 
lost  ground,  her  water  was  pumped  out,  after  which 
every  article  that  did  not  pertain  to  her  armament  was 
sacrificed.  But  in  spite  of  these  extreme  measures  the 
enemy  still  crept  up.  The  effects  of  the  injuries  that 
the  frigate  had  sustained  while  aground  were  painfully 
apparent.  By  11  A.  M.  the  enemy's  leading  ship,  the 
Majestic,  opened  fire,  but  Captain  Decatur  did  not  re 
spond,  and  soon  he  had  the  satisfaction  of  seeing  her 
shot  fall  short.  By  3  P.  M.  the  second  of  the  pursuing 
ships,  the  Endymion,  Captain  H.  Hope,  a  24-pounder 
38-gun  frigate,  had  gained  so  much  as  to  be  within 
long  range  and  was  far  in  advance  of  her  consorts. 
Two  hours  later  she  wTas  on  the  Presidents  starboard 
quarter,  within  half-point  blank  shot,  in  which  posi 
tion  the  latter  could  not  bring  a  gun  to  bear,  neither 
stern  chasers  nor  quarter  guns,  while  the  Englishman 
kept  up  a  galling  fire,  and  the  American  commander 
saw  his  men  falling  around  him  and  his  ship  shattered 
by  every  shot,  while  an  overwhelming  force  was  close 
in  his  wake. 

In  such  an  extremity  the  alternative  was  either  to 
surrender  or  to  turn  suddenly  upon  the  Endymion, 
destroy  or  take  her  by  boarding,  and,  after  scuttling 
the  President  and  transferring  her  crew  to  the  swifter 
Endymion,  make  sail  and  escape  before  the  other 
ships  came  up.  The  latter  plan  was  bold  and  hazard 
ous,  for,  even  if  they  should  succeed  in  capturing  the 
Endymion,  the  time  required  might  enable  the  other 
vessels  to  close.  But  to  the  spirited  Decatur  any  at 
tempt,  however  forlorn,  was  preferable  to  surrender. 
Accordingly  a  howitzer,  heavily  loaded,  was  pointed 
down  the  hatchway,  so  as  to  put  a  hole  through  the 
bottom  of  the  ship  when  the  time  came  for  abandoning 
her,  then,  assembling  his  men,  most  of  whom  had 
served  under  him  many  years,  Captain  Decatur  ad- 


1815.  "  WE'LL  GO  ON   BOARD  OF  THEM!" 

dressed  them  :  "  My  lads,  that  ship  is  coming  up  with 
us.  As  our  ship  won't  sail,  we'll  go  on  board  of  them, 
every  man  and  boy  of  us,  and  carry  her  into  New 
York.  All  I  ask  of  you  is  to  follow  me.  This  is  a 
favorite  ship  of  the  country.  If  we  allow  her  to  be 
taken,  we  shall  be  deserted  by  our  wives  and  sweet 
hearts.  What !  let  such  a  ship  as  this  go  for  nothing  ! 
'T would  break  the  heart  of  every  pretty  girl  in  New 
York."  The  daring  of  their  leader  found  a  ready  re 
sponse  in  the  breasts  of  the  men,  and  with  one  accord 
they  gave  three  hearty  cheers  and  returned  to  their 
guns.  Captain  Decatur  now  waited  until  the  Endym- 
ion  was  close  upon  him,  when  he  suddenly  put  the 
President  about  so  as  to  run  alongside.  But  either  the 
cheers  from  the  American  crew  or  former  experience 
with  American  frigates  rendered  the  British  command 
er  exceedingly  cautious,  for  the  moment  he  saw  the 
President  coming  around  he  also  went  about  so  as  to 
maintain  his  distance.  At  dusk,  Captain  Decatur  ran 
off  the  Englishman's  port  beam  and  opened  a  tre 
mendous  fire,  still  hoping  to  disable  him  before  the 
other  ships  came  up.  The  two  frigates  soon  came 
within  musket-shot,  and  one  of  the  President's  shot 
crashed  through  the  enemy's  quarter-deck  and  entered 
the  deck  below. 

It  was  not  long  before  Captain  Decatur  lost  the  val 
uable  services  of  his  first  lieutenant,  Fitz  Henry  Babbitt, 
who  was  standing  near  the  wardroom  hatch  when  a  32- 
pound  shot  struck  him  just  below  the  right  knee,  and, 
falling  down  the  hatchway  into  the  wardroom,  he  frac 
tured  his  leg  in  two  places  and  his  skull.  He  survived 
his  injuries  nearly  two  hours  with  great  fortitude,  and 
to  the  last  calmly  dictated  his  parting  messages,  request 
ing  that  his  watch  might  be  sent  to  his  brother,  and 
taking  from  his  neck  the  miniature  of  the  young  lady 
to  whom  he  was  engaged,  desired  that  it  be  delivered 
to  his  mother.  Second-Lieutenant  John  Templer 
Shubrick  was  now  ordered  on  deck  to  take  the  trum- 


644  THE  EAST  INDIA  SQUADRON.  1815. 

pet,  and  as  this  officer  was  walking  aft  in  compliance 
with  the  order  he  passed  Lieutenant  Archibald  Ham 
ilton,  and,  being  a  fellow-townsman,  asked  him  in  a 
cheerful  manner  how  he  was  getting  along.  Before  a 
reply  could  be  made  Lieutenant  Hamilton  was  cut 
nearly  in  two  by  a  24-pound  shot.  He  "  was  a  young 
officer  of  great  merit,  equally  distinguished  by  beauty 
of  person  and  the  rarest  excellence  of  character,  and 
whose  cheerful,  happy  temperament  endeared  him  to 
all  who  knew  him.  Alike  the  pride  of  the  ball-room 
and  of  the  quarter-deck,  he  carried  everywhere  the 
same  sunny  and  joyous  demeanor.  c  Carry  on,  boys  ! 
carry  on  ! '  was  the  favorite  exclamation  with  which  in 
festive  scenes  he  was  wont  to  excite  his  companions  to 
mirth,  and  in  scenes  of  danger  to  exertion.  He  was  in 
the  act  of  uttering  this  animating  exclamation  when  he 
was  killed."  He  was  the  son  of  Paul  Hamilton,  ex- 
Secretary  of  the  Navy.  He  had  been  in  the  United 
States-Macedonian  fight,  and  had  the  honor  of  bear 
ing  the  colors  of  the  British  frigate  to  Washington. 

Captain  Decatur  himself,  while  standing  on  a  shot- 
box  to  get  a  better  view  of  the  enemy,  was  struck  on 
the  chest  by  a  huge  splinter  and  thrown  senseless  to 
the  deck.  This  was  a  blow  that  fell  upon  every  man 
in  the  ship,  for  Decatur  had  become  the  idol  of  his 
crew,  and  when  it  was  rumored  that  he  was  wounded 
the  greatest  anxiety  was  expressed.  Decatur,  however, 
soon  recovered,  and,  declining  all  assistance,  walked 
back  to  his  station,  and  at  sight  of  him  the  men  gave 
three  cheers.  But  soon  afterward  Captain  Decatur 
was  again  wounded,  this  time  by  a  splinter  that  struck 
his  head  and  covered  his  face  with  blood.  He  refused 
to  go  below,  and  continued  in  command. 

In  the  mean  time  the  British  frigate  had  been  suf 
fering  heavily,  and  by  8  P.  M.  her  fire  had  perceptibly 
diminished,  and  there  were  intervals  of  several  minutes 
before  she  discharged  a  gun.  Never  was  a  ship's  bat 
tery  served  better  than  the  Presidents  on  this  occa- 


Captain  Decatur  wounded. 


^         OF  THB 

UNIVERSITY 


1815.  HEROIC   DEFENSE  OF  THE  PRESIDENT.  645 

sion,  and  never  was  the  fire  from  the  marines  more  accu 
rate  than  that  of  those  under  Lieutenant  Levi  Twiggs. 
Decatnr  described  it  as  "  incomparable."  The  English 
man's  rigging  was  completely  wrecked  and  nearly  every 
gun  in  his  port  battery  had  been  disabled.  About  this 
time  Lieutenant  Edward  F.  Howell,  who  commanded 
the  fifth  division  of  guns  on  the  Presidents  quarter 
deck,  remarked  to  Midshipman  Emmett,  as  he  leaned 
over  the  side  so  as  to  get  a  better  view  of  the  Endy 
mion,  "Well,  we've  whipped  that  ship,  at  any  rate." 
Just  then  Howell  saw  the  flash  of  a  gun  from  the  bow 
of  the  British  frigate,  and  quickly  added,  "No,  there 
she  is—  "  and  before  he  could  utter  the  word  "again" 
a  grapeshot  struck  his  forehead,  killing  him  instantly. 
This  was  the  last  gun  the  Endymion  fired. 

Finding  that  the  Endymion  was  incapable  of  mak 
ing  further  resistance,  and  that  the  other  British  vessels 
were  drawing  near,  Captain  Decatur,  at  8.30  P.  M.,  re 
sumed  his  course  under  all  sail,  from  royal  studding 
sails  down.  In  doing  this  the  President  for  some  time 
exposed  herself  to  a  raking  fire  from  the  Endymion, 
but  the  latter  did  not  discharge  a  single  gun,  showing 
how  completely  she  was  disabled,  and  that  she  must 
have  surrendered  had  not  the  President  been  compelled 
to  abandon  her.  The  running  action  with  the  Endym 
ion  had  lasted  two  hours  and  a  half,  and,  although 
the  President  had  been  severely  injured  in  her  rigging, 
Captain  Decatur  was  still  in  hopes  of  effecting  his  es 
cape  under  cover  of  night.  At  9  P.  M.  it  clouded  over, 
and,  availing  himself  of  this,  he  changed  his  course  to 
the  south,  hoping  that  by  this  means  he  could  elude 
his  pursuers.  The  frigate  continued  on  this  tack  for 
two  hours  with  no  signs  of  the  enemy,  and  all  began  to 
congratulate  themselves  on  their  escape,  but  at  half 
past  eleven  the  clouds  blew  away,  and  revealed  the 
English  ships  in  the  bright  moonlight.  Unfortunately, 
they  had  been  able  to  follow  the  chase  by  getting  occa 
sional  glimpses  of  her  through  the  clouds.  In  his  offi- 


646  THE  EAST  INDIA  SQUADRON.  1815. 

cial  report  Captain  Decatur  said :  "Two  fresh  ships  of 
the  enemy,  the  38-gun  frigates  Pomone  and  Tenedos, 
had  come  up.  The  Pomone  had  opened  her  tire  on  the 
port  bow,  within  musket  shot,  the  other,  about  two 
cables'  length  astern,  taking  a  raking  position  on  our 
quarter,  and  the  rest,  with  the  exception  of  the  Endym- 
ion,  within  gunshot.  Thus  situated,  with  about  one 
fifth  of  my  crew  killed  and  wounded,  my  ship  crippled, 
and  a  more  than  fourfold  force  opposed  to  me,  with 
out  a  chance  of  escape,  I  deemed  it  my  duty  to  sur 
render."  But  "  the  Pomone  tired  a  second  broadside," l 
which  killed  a  " considerable  number"  of  men  in  the 
President,  upon  which  Captain  Decatur  cried:  "She 
means  to  sink  us  !  To  your  quarters,  my  lads,  and  re 
new  your  fire !  "  Before  this  could  be  done,  however, 
the  Tenedos  ranged  up  on  the  President's  starboard 
bow,  and,  hailing,  was  answered  :  "The  American  frig 
ate  President.  We  have  surrendered."  Captain  Parker, 
of  the  Tenedos,  immediately  sent  a  boat  and  took  pos 
session  at  11.30  P.  M. 

In  this  chase  the  President  sustained  a  loss  of 
twenty-four  killed  and  fifty-six  wounded  ;  three  of  her 
five  lieutenants,  Babbitt,  Hamilton  and  Howell,  being 
among  the  killed.  The  remains  of  these  young  officers, 
on  the  following  day,  were  sewed  in  heavily  shotted 
canvas,  and,  being  wrapped  in  American  flags,  were 
placed  on  a  gun  slide  in  the  lee  gangway.  Captain 
Decatur  read  the  burial  service,  and  the  bodies  were 
consigned  to  the  sea.  Among  the  wounded  were  Mid 
shipmen  Richard  Dale  (son  of  Richard  Dale,  of  the 
Bonhomme  Richard),  who  lost  a  leg,  and  Benjamin 
Brewster,  Sailing-Master  James  Rogers  and  Master's- 
Mate  Parker.  The  loss  in  the  Endymion  was  eleven 
killed  and  fourteen  wounded.2  This  disparity  in  killed 
and  wounded  was  owing  to  the  Americans  directing 

1  James'  History  of  the  British  Navy,  vol.  vi,  p.  240. 

2  Official  report  of  Captain  H.  Hope,  of  the  Endymion. 


1815.  THE  KILLED  OR  WOUNDED.  647 

their  fire  chiefly  at  the  Englishman's  rigging,  with  a 
view  of  throwing  Mm  out  of  the  chase.  As  the  Presi 
dent  had  been  captured  by  a  squadron  and  not  by  a 
single  ship,  Captain  Decatur  surrendered  his  sword  to 
the  senior  officer,  Captain  John  Hayes,  of  the  Majestic, 
who  returned  it,  saying  that  uhe  felt  proud  in  return 
ing  the  sword  of  an  officer  who  had  defended  his  ship 
so  nobly."  Captain  Decatur  especially  commended  the 
gallantry  of  Lieutenants  Shubrick  and  John  Gallagher, 
Lieutenant  Twiggs,  of  the  marines,  Midshipman  Rob 
ert  B.  Randolph  and  Henry  Robinson,  who  was  serving 
as  a  volunteer  chaplain.  Among  the  midshipmen  in 
the  President  in  this  affair  were  William  Carmichael 
Mcholson  (afterward  commodore,  then  but  fifteen  years 
old,  son  of  Captain  John  Nicholson,  of  the  navy  dur 
ing  the  Revolution),  and  Irvine  Shubrick,  brother  of 
Second-Lieutenant  John  Templer  Shubrick. 

Some  English  writers  have  endeavored  to  show  that 
this  was  a  single-ship  action  between  the  President  and 
the  Endymion,  but  their  own  records  do  not  support 
this  view,  as  the  following  will  show.  Captain  Brenton, 
in  his  Naval  History  of  England,  says:  "It  would  be 
unfair  to  the  memory  of  that  excellent  man,  Captain 
Decatur,  to  say  this  was  an  equal  action.  It  might, 
perhaps,  have  ended  in  a  drawn  battle  had  not  the 
Pomone  decided  the  contest."  Rear -Admiral  H. 
Hotham,  in  reporting  the  capture  to  Vice- Admiral 
Cochrane,  admits  that  the  President  was  captured  by 
a  squadron,  when  he  says:  "I  have  the  honor  to  ac 
quaint  you  with  the  capture  of  the  United  States  ship 
President,  on  the  15th  instant,  by  the  following  force, 
viz.  :  the  Majestic,  Captain  Hayes ;  the  Tenedos,  Cap 
tain  Hyde  Parker ;  the  Endymion,  Captain  Hope ;  the 
Pomone,  Captain  Lumley — which  I  had  collected  off 
the  bar  of  New  York,  under  the  direction  of  Captain 
Hayes."  Several  years  afterward  while  some  English 
officers  were  discussing  the  chase  at  a  dinner  at  which 

Admiral  Cochrane  was  present,  and  were  endeavoring 
44 


648  THE  EAST  INDIA   SQUADRON.  1815. 

to  show  that  the  President  was  captured  by  the  En- 
dymion  alone,  the  bluff  old  admiral  bluntly  remarked, 
"the  President  was  completely  mobbed." 

On  the  arrival  of  the  President  with  her  captors  at 
the  Bermudas,  the  Gazette  of  that  place  published  an 
article  in  which  it  was  intimated  that  the  President 
was  not  captured  by  the  squadron,  but  by  the  En- 
dymion  alone.  Through  the  highly  honorable  interfer 
ence  of  the  governor  and  the  British  officers  of  the 
squadron  the  editor  was  compelled  to  retract.  The 
editor  of  the  Bermuda  Gazette,  in  his  paper  of  March 
15,  1815,  further  said  that  Captain  Decatur  had  con 
cealed  sixty-five  of  his  men  in  the  President's  hold  for 
the  purpose  of  rising  on  the  prize  crew  and  recovering 
the  ship.  These  published  reports  so  incensed  the 
American  officers  that  Midshipman  Randolph,  of  the 
President,  on  the  following  day  met  the  editor  in 
King's  Square  and  gave  him  a  severe  caning.  Captain 
Decatur,  in  a  letter  to  the  Secretary  of  the  Navy,  says  : 
"I  have  the  honor  to  inclose  you  my  parole,  by  which 
you  will  perceive  the  British  admit  that  the  President 
was  captured  by  the  squadron." 

Although  this  affair  can  not  be  considered  in  the 
light  of  a  single- ship  action  between  the  President  and 
the  Endymion,  yet  a  comparison  of  their  forces  will  be 
interesting.  The  President  carried  thirty  long  24- 
pounders  and  twenty- two  short  42-pounders — in  all, 
fifty-two  guns,  with  seven  hundred  and  sixty-five  actual 
pounds  of  metal  to  the  broadside.  The  Endymion 
mounted  thirty  long  24-pounders  and  twenty  short  32- 
pounders — in  all,  fifty  guns,  aggregating  six  hundred 
and  eighty  pounds  of  metal  to  the  broadside.  The  lat 
ter  ship,  as  we  have  seen,  was  compelled  to  drop  out  of 
the  chase,  while  the  Pomone  and  the  Tenedos  completed 
the  capture.  Two  days  afterward,  in  a  heavy  gale,  the 
Endymion  was  obliged  to  throw  overboard  her  quar 
ter-deck  and  forecastle  guns,  at  the  same  time  cutting 
away  her  bowsprit,  fore  and  main  masts  and  mizzen 


1815.  COMPARATIVE   FORCES.  649 

topmast.     The  President  in  the  same  gale  lost  her 
lower  masts  and  several  of  her  guns. 

Comparative  force  and  loss. 

Guns.  Lbs.  Killed.     Wounded.      Total. 

President:  52  765  24  56  80)      Time 

Endymion :          50  680  11  14  25  f  2h.  30m. 

Not  having  heard  of  the  President's  capture,  Cap 
tain  Warrington,  of  the  Peacocti,  with  the  Hornet  and 
the  Tom  Bowline,  sailed  from  JSTew  York  on  the  22d 
of  January,  eight  days  after  the  departure  of  Captain 
Decatur.  The  three  vessels  passed  the  bar  about  day 
light,  and,  although  a  hostile  squadron  was  descried 
to  the  south,  a  favorable  wind  enabled  them  to  clear  it 
and  get  to  sea.  A  few  days  out,  the  Hornet,  Master- 
Commandant  Biddle,  became  separated  from  the  other 
vessels  and  made  directly  for  Tristan  d'Acunha,  the 
rendezvous  appointed  by  Captain  Decatur,  and  arrived 
there  on  the  23d  of  March.  As  Captain  Biddle  (having 
been  promoted  to  that  rank  February  28,  1815)  was 
about  to  anchor  off  the  northern  end  of  the  island,  a 
sail  was  discovered,  and  the  Hornet  was  immediately 
put  under  topsails  and  stood  out  to  reconnoiter.  The 
stranger  rapidly  came  down  before  the  wind,  and  at 
1.40  P.  M.,  being  nearly  within  musket-shot,  hauled  her 
wind  on  the  starboard  tack,  hoisted  an  English  flag 
and  fired  a  gun,  upon  which  the  Hornet  promptly 
luffed  up,  showed  her  colors  and  responded  with  a 
broadside.  For  fifteen  minutes  the  vessels  maintained 
a  heavy  cannonading ;  the  Hornet,  using  star-and-bar 
shot,  soon  crippled  the  enemy's  rigging,  and  this  was 
followed  up  with  round  and  grape  shot.  From  the 
time  the  firing  began  the  vessels  had  been  drawing 
closer  together,  until  at  1.55  P.  M.  the  enemy  made  an 
attempt  to  board,  and  succeeded  in  passing  his  bow 
sprit  between  the  Hornet's  main  and  mizzen  rigging  on 
the  starboard  quarter,  and  had  ample  opportunity  to 
gain  the  Hornet's  deck,  but  for  some  reason  he  did  not 


650  THE  EAST  INDIA  SQUADRON.  1815. 

carry  out  his  design.  The  American  seamen  immedi 
ately  went  aft  and  begged  for  permission  to  board,  but 
Captain  Biddle,  aware  of  the  advantage  he  had  gained, 
was  unwilling  to  relinquish  it.  At  this  moment  a 
heavy  swell  caused  the  vessels  to  separate,  and  car 
ried  away  the  HorneVs  mizzen  shrouds,  stern  davits 
and  spanker  boom,  while  the  enemy  lost  his  bowsprit 
and  swung  around  on  the  HorneVs  port  quarter.  Im 
mediately  afterward  the  Englishman's  foremast  fell, 
the  wreck  covering  the  port  guns  so  that  they  could 
not  be  used.  The  Hornet  then  wore  round  to  bring  her 
fresh  broadside  into  play,  when,  at  2.02  p.  M.,  the  sur 
viving  officer  of  the  British  brig,  Lieutenant  James 
M'Donald,  called  out  that  they  had  surrendered.  Cap 
tain  Biddle  ordered  his  men  to  cease  firing,  and,  going 
to  the  taffrail,  asked  if  they  had  struck  ;  but  by  way 
of  answer  two  British  seamen  fired  at  him  and  at  the 
man  at  the  wheel.  "  Captain  Biddle  was  struck  on  the 
chin,  and  the  ball,  passing  round  the  neck,  went  off 
through  the  cape  of  his  surtout,  wounding  him  severely 
but  not  dangerously ;  the  man  at  the  wheel  escaped, 
but  the  Englishmen  who  fired  did  not,  for  they  were 
observed  by  two  of  our  marines,  who  shot  them  dead."1 
It  was  with  the  greatest  difficulty  the  American  crew 
was  restrained  from  firing  again.  The  enemy  now 
hailed  the  second  time,  saying  that  he  had  surren 
dered,  and  that  the  ship  was  the  British  brig-sloop 
Penguin,  Captain  James  Dickinson. 

The  Penguin  was  shorter  than  the  Hornet  in  deck 
measurement  by  two  feet,  but  she  had  a  greater  length 
of  keel,  greater  breadth  of  beam,  thicker  sides  and  high 
er  bulwarks.  The  latter  carried  eighteen  short  32- 
pounders  and  two  long  12-pounders  ;  total,  twenty  guns, 
with  two  hundred  and  seventy-nine  pounds  actual 
weight  of  metal  to  the  broadside.  The  Penguin  car 
ried  sixteen  short  32-pounders,  two  long  12-pounders 

1  Private  journal  of  an  officer  in  the  Peacock. 


1815.  THE   HORNET  CAPTURES  THE  PENGUIN.  (551 

and  one  short  12-pounder,  with  swivels  on  the  capstan 
and  in  the  tops,1  making  nineteen  guns,  with  two  hun 
dred  and  seventy-four  pounds  of  metal  to  the  broad 
side.  Out  of  her  complement  of  one  hundred  and 
thirty- two  men  the  Hornet  lost  one  killed  and  eleven 
wounded,  among  the  latter  being  Captain  Biddle  and 
Lieutenant  Conner.  The  Penguins  loss  was  ten  killed 
and  twenty-eight  wounded,2  among  the  former  being 
Captain  Dickinson  and  one  of  the  boatswains  who  had 
served  under  Nelson.  One  hundred  and  eighteen  pris 
oners  were  taken  from  her,  to  which  add  the  number 
they  admit  as  killed,  viz.,  ten  (Captain  Biddle  reports 
fourteen),  and  we  get  the  Penguirts  crew  one  hundred 
and  twenty-eight.  Of  these,  twelve  men  were  super 
numerary  marines  from  the  74-gun  ship  Medway. 
Captain  Biddle  spoke  in  highest  terms  of  the  gallantry 
of  Lieutenants  David  Conner,  John  T.  Newton,  Isaac 
Mayo,  Acting-Lieutenant  W.  L.  Brownlow,  of  the  ma 
rines,  and  Sailing- Master  Edward  Homey. 

Comparative  force  and  loss. 

Guns.  Lbs.          Crew.         Killed.  Wounded.  Total. 

Hornet:  20          279          132  1          11        12 )    Time 

Penguin :  19          274          128          10          28        38  \     22m. 

The  officers  of  the  Penguin  relate  that  in  the  action 
a  32- pound  shot  came  in  at  an  after  port,  carried  away 
"six  legs,"  killed  the  powder-boy  of  the  division,  cap 
sized  the  opposite  gun  on  the  starboard  side,  passed 
through  another  port,  and,  spending  itself  on  the  sea 
beyond,  "  sank  in  sullen  silence."  Each  of  the  Eng 
lish  midshipmen  lost  a  leg.  The  Penguin  had  been 
dispatched  by  Vice-Admiral  Charles  Tyler,  of  the  74- 
gun  ship  Medway,  to  capture  the  American  privateer 
Young  Wasp,  which  had  recently  been  off  the  island, 
and,  after  capturing  a  richly  laden  Indiaman  and  land- 

1  Official  report  of  Captain  Biddle.     James,  vol.  vi,  p.  261,  says  "  16 
carronades,  32-pounders,  and  two  sixes." 

2  Official  report  of  Lieutenant  M' Donald. 


(352  THE  EAST  INDIA  SQUADRON.  1815. 

ing  the  prisoners,  had  sailed  away.  The  prisoners 
brought  the  news  of  the  Young  Wasp's  exploit  to 
Vice-Admiral  Tyler,  who  detached  twelve  marines  from 
his  own  ship  to  assist  in  taking  the  audacious  priva 
teer.  Special  instructions  were  given  to  Captain  Dick- 
enson  as  to  the  way  he  should  capture  the  Young 
Wasp,  and  emphasis  was  laid  on  the  desirability  of 
getting  "  close  enough."  Fearing  that  he  might  fright 
en  off  the  supposed  privateer,  Captain  Dickenson  ap 
proached  the  Hornet  head  on,  so  as  not  to  reveal  his 
broadside.  At  the  time  of  her  surrender  the  Penguin 
"  was  a  perfect  wreck  " ; 1  "  she  was  completely  riddled 
by  our  shot,  her  foremast  and  bowsprit  both  gone,  and 
her  mainmast  so  crippled  as  to  be  incapable  of  being 
secured,"2  and,  after  taking  out  a  few  stores,  the 
Americans  scuttled  her.  Captain  Biddle  reported  that 
the  Hornet  "  did  not  receive  a  single  round  shot  in  her 
hull,  nor  any  material  wound  in  her  spars.  The  rigging 
and  sails  were  very  much  cut ;  but,  having  bent  a  new 
suit  of  sails  and  knotted  and  secured  our  rigging,  we  are 
now  completely  ready  in  all  respects  for  any  service." 

Scarcely  had  the  prisoners  been  secured  when  two 
strange  sails  hove  in  sight,  and  as  they  rapidly  bore 
down  they  were  made  out  to  be  vessels  of  war.  Cap 
tain  Biddle  hastily  cleared  for  action  and  stood  out  to 
reconnoiter,  but  after  an  exchange  of  signals  he  dis 
covered  them  to  be  the  Peacock  and  the  Tom  Bowline. 
The  latter  was  now  made  a  cartel  and  sent  to  Rio  de 
Janeiro  with  the  prisoners.  After  the  action  the  Pea 
cock  and  the  Hornet  remained  at  Tristan  d'Acunha,  in 
the  vain  hope  of  meeting  the  President,  until  April, 
when  Captains  Warrington  and  Biddle  determined  to 
cruise  in  the  Indian  Ocean  without  their  flagship,  and, 
having  aboard  supplies  for  an  extended  voyage,  they 
set  sail,  on  the  13th  of  April,  for  the  East  Indies. 

1  Official  report  of  Lieutenant  M'Donald. 
3  Official  report  of  Captain  Biddle. 


1815.  IN  THE  INDIAN   OCEAN.  $53 

After  doubling  the  Cape  of  Good  Hope  they  pro 
ceeded  on  an  uneventful  cruise  until  the  27th  of  April, 
when,  at  seven  o'clock  on  the  morning  of  this  day, 
in  latitude  38°  30'  South,  longitude  33°  East,  a  large 
sail  was  made  out  to  the  southeast.  Chase  was  im 
mediately  given,  but,  as  the  wind  continued  light 
throughout  the  day,  it  was  nearly  sunset  before  the  hull 
of  the  stranger  could  be  seen.  She  was  now  thought  to 
be  an  East  India  merchantman,  and  the  Americans 
had  reason  to  congratulate  themselves.  An  officer  in 
the  Hornet  wrote  :  "  The  seamen  declared  they  would 
have  the  berth  deck  carpeted  with  East  India  silk,  sup 
posing  her  an  Indiaman  from  India  ;  while  the  officers, 
under  the  impression  she  was  from  England,  were  mak 
ing  arrangements  how  we  should  dispose  of  the  money, 
porter,  cheese,  etc.  We  were  regretting  that  our  ship 
did  not  sail  faster,  as  the  Peacock  would  certainly  cap 
ture  her  first  and  would  take  out  many  of  the  best 
and  most  valuable  articles  before  we  should  get  up." 

During  the  night  and  the  following  morning  it  was 
calm,  the  chase  all  this  time  standing  northward,  but 
about  noon  of  the  28th,  a  breeze  springing  up  from  the 
north,  the  Peacock  and  the  Hornet  set  studding  sails 
on  both  sides  and  rapidly  came  down  on  the  stranger. 
At  2.45  P.  M.,  Captain  Biddle,  who  was  six  miles  astern 
of  his  consort,  noticed  that  the  Peacock  seemed  a  little 
sLy  of  the  chase,  and,  believing  that  she  was  an  un 
usually  large  and  heavily  armed  Indiaman,  and  that 
the  Peacock  was  waiting  for  the  Hornet  to  come  up  so 
that  they  might  attack  together,  Captain  Biddle  took 
in  his  starboard  studding  sails  and  ran  down  to  his 
consort.  Captain  Warrington  was  more  cautious  than 
the  American  privateersman,  who  ran  down  on  a  ship 
of  the  line  under  the  impression  that  she  was  a  mer- 
chantship,  and  ordered  her  to  strike,  and  who,  when 
the  Englishman  ran  out  his  guns,  gracefully  submitted 
to  the  inevitable  by  saying,  "Well,  if  you  won't  sur 
render,  I  will." 


654  THE  EAST   INDIA  SQUADRON.  1815. 

At  3.22  p.  M.,  when  the  Hornet  was  eight  miles 
from  the  stranger,  the  Peacock  signaled  "a  ship  of  the 
line  "  and  turned  to  escape,  while  the  stranger  wore  in 
pursuit.  Upon  this  the  American  sloops  separated, 
and  the  enemy  selected  the  Hornet.  Fully  sensible 
of  the  honor  thus  bestowed  upon  him,  Captain  Biddle 
made  every  effort  to  show  "a  clean  pair  of  heels."  He 
took  in  all  his  studding  sails  and  hauled  close  to  the 
wind,  but  before  sunset  the  stranger  proved  herself  to 
be  a  remarkably  fast  sailer  and  very  weatherly.  By 
9  P.  M.  she  had  gained  considerably,  and  as  she  could 
keep  the  chase  in  sight  all  night,  it  became  necessary 
to  lighten  the  Hornet.  Accordingly,  Captain  Biddle 
threw  overboard  twelve  tons  of  kentledge,  part  of  his 
shot,  some  of  the  heavy  spars,  cut  away  the  sheet 
anchor  and  cable  and  started  the  wedges  of  the  mast. 

By  2  A.  M.  of  the  29th  the  enemy  had  gained  still 
more,  having  now  reached  a  position  rather  forward  of 
the  HorneVs  lee  beam,  so  that  Captain  Biddle  was 
compelled  to  go  about.  By  daylight  the  stranger  was 
within  gunshot  on  the  lee  quarter,  and  at  7  A.  M.  she 
hoisted  English  colors  and  opened  from  her  bow  guns. 
As  the  shot  went  over  the  Hornet,  Captain  Biddle  was 
compelled  to  part  with  his  remaining  anchors,  cables, 
launch,  six  guns,  a  quantity  of  shot,  and  every  heavy 
article  that  could  possibly  be  spared.  This  had  the 
desired  effect,  and  soon  he  had  the  satisfaction  of  see 
ing  the  enemy's  shot  gradually  fall  short.  But  at  11 
A.  M.  the  Englishman  began  to  creep  up  again  and 
soon  reopened  with  effect.  Captain  Biddle  now  threw 
overboard  all  but  one  of  his  guns,  nearly  all  his  shot, 
all  the  extra  spars,  muskets,  cutlasses,  forge  and  bell, 
cut  away  the  topgallant  forecastle,  and  literally  stripped 
his  ship,  both  above  and  between  decks,  of  every  mova 
ble  article,  while  the  men  were  ordered  to  lie  down  on 
the  quarter-deck  in  order  to  trim  the  ship  and  increase 
her  speed.  But  still  the  enemy  kept  within  range. 

"At  this  time  the  shot  and  shells  were  whistling 


Chase  of  the  Hornet  by  the  Cormvallis. 


1815.  WONDERFUL   ESCAPE  OF  THE   HORNET.  655 

about  our  ears,  and  not  a  person  on  board  had  the 
most  distant  idea  that  there  was  a  possibility  of  escape. 
We  all  packed  our  things  and  waited  until  the  enemy's 
shot  would  compel  us  to  heave  to  and  surrender.  Many 
of  our  men  had  been  impressed  and  imprisoned  for 
years  in  their  horrible  service  and  hated  them  and  their 
nation  with  the  most  deadly  animosity,  while  the  rest 
of  the  crew,  horror-struck  with  the  narration  of  the  suf 
ferings  of  their  shipmates  who  had  been  in  the  power 
of  the  English,  and  now  equally  flushed  with  rage, 
joined  heartily  in  execrating  the  present  authors  of  our 
misfortune.  Captain  Biddle  mustered  the  men  and 
told  them  he  was  pleased  with  their  conduct  during  the 
chase,  and  hoped  still  to  perceive  that  propriety  of  con 
duct  which  had  always  marked  their  character  and  that 
of  the  American  tar  generally ;  that  we  might  soon 
expect  to  be  captured,  etc.  Not  a  dry  eye  was  to  be 
seen  at  the  mention  of  the  capture  of  the  poor  little 
Hornet."1 

The  stranger  continued  his  cannonading,  but  owing 
to  his  "  unskillful  firing"2  only  three  shot  came  aboard 
the  Hornet.  One  struck  the  jib-boom,  another  struck 
the  starboard  bulwark  just  forward  of  the  gangway, 
and  a  third  fell  on  the  main  deck  immediately  over  the 
head  Of  one  of  the  men  who  had  been  disabled  in  the 
action  with  the  Penguin,  where  he  was  lying  in  his  rot 
very  ill  with  his  wounds.  The  shot  was  near  coming 
through  the  deck,  and  it  threw  innumerable  splinters 
all  around  him  and  struck  down  a  small  paper,  the 
American  Ensign,  which  he  had  hoisted  over  his  head. 
The  wind,  which  up  to  this  time  had  been  unfavorable 
for  the  Hornet,  now  shifted  to  the  southeast,  and  then 
freshened  up  from  the  west.  This,  by  sunset,  enabled 
the  Hornet  to  put  the  enemy  four  miles  astern  west 
ward,  and  during  the  following  night  the  weather  be- 

1  Private  journal  of  one  of  the  Hornet's  officers. 
8  James'  History  of  the  British  Navy,  vol.  vi,  p.  266. 


056  THE  EAST  INDIA   SQUADRON.  1815. 

came  cloudy  and  squally.  Occasionally  the  ship  of 
the  line  was  seen,  but  by  daylight  of  the  30th  she  was 
fully  twelve  miles  behind.  At  9.30  A.  M.  she  took  in 
her  studding  sails,  and  by  11  A.  M.  she  had  faded  from 
view,  and  the  Hornet  made  for  the  United  States.  The 
stranger  was  afterward  known  to  have  been  the  British 
ship  of  the  line  Cornwallis,  bearing  the  flag  of  Eear- 
Admiral  Sir  George  Burlton. 

After  dropping  the  Cornwallis  out  of  sight,  the 
Peacock  continued  her  cruise  in  the  Indian  Ocean,  and 
caused  great  damage  to  British  commerce.  At  four 
o'clock  in  the  afternoon  of  June  30th,  while  in  the 
Straits  of  Sunda,  she  fell  in  with  the  British  cruiser 
Nautilus,  Lieutenant  Charles  Boyce,  and  on  coming 
within  hail  Lieutenant  Boyce  asked  if  the  Americans 
knew  that  peace  had  been  declared,  which  was  answered 
in  the  negative,  and,  having  no  assurance  of  it  further 
than  the  Englishman's  statement,  Captain  Warring- 
ton  insisted  on  a  surrender.  As  the  Nautilus  was 
near  the  fort  of  Anjiers  and  had  her  crew  at  quarters, 
Captain  Warrington  had  reason  to  suspect  that  this 
might  be  a  ruse  on  the  part  of  the  British  commander 
to  escape  from  the  Peacock  and  gain  the  cover  of  the 
fort.  Just  at  this  moment  several  men  from  the  fort 
boarded  the  Peacock,  but  "very  improperly  omitted 
mentioning  that  peace  existed,"1  and,  as  the  Americans 
were  in  momentary  expectation  of  an  engagement,  the 
men  were  hurried  below  and  secured.  A  gun  was  then 
fired  at  the  Nautilus  to  induce  her  to  surrender.  This 
brought  out  an  entire  broadside  from  the  brig,  to 
which  the  Peacock  responded,  killing  six  and  wound 
ing  eight  men,  upon  which  the  Nautilus  struck.  No 
injury  was  sustained  by  the  Peacock.  The  prize  car 
ried  ten  short  18-pounders  and  four  long  9-pounders — in 
all,  fourteen  guns,  with  one  hundred  and  eight  pounds 
of  metal  to  the  broadside,  and  had  a  crew  of  thirty-nine 

1  Official  report  of  Captain  Warrington. 


1815.  THE  PEACOCK-NAUTILUS  ACTION.  (J5T 

European  officers  and  seamen  and  forty  marines  and 
lascars ;  the  total  on  board,  including  some  European 
invalid  soldiers,  being  about  one  hundred.1  Lieuten 
ant  Boyce  received  a  grapeshot  wound  at  the  first 
broadside,  and  soon  afterward  a  32-pound  shot  shat 
tered  his  right  knee  joint  and  splintered  his  thigh  bone. 
His  first  lieutenant,  Robert  Mayston,  was  also  wounded. 
The  Nautilus  was  severely  damaged ;  her  bends  on 
the  starboard  side  were  shivered  from  the  fore  chains 
aft,  and  the  bulwarks  were  much  injured  from  the 
chesstree  aft,  while  the  lower  masts  and  tiller  were 
injured,  and  the  boom  and  mainsail  were  perforated 
with  grapeshot.  The  launch  and  cutter  were  cut  to 
pieces,  two  guns  were  disabled,  and  the  iron  stock, 
ring  and  fluke  of  the  sheet  anchor  were  shot  away. 
Four  32-pound  shot  were  taken  out  of  her,  one  of  them 
being  lodged  under  the  counter,  near  the  water  line. 

Comparative  force  and  loss. 

Guns.  Lbs.          Killed.    Wounded.    Total. 

Peacock:  22  309  0  0  0 

Nautilus:  14  108  6  8  14 

It  is  reasonable  to  suppose  that  Captain  Warring- 
ton,  at  such  a  distance  from  home,  must  have  been  in 
doubt  as  to  the  truth  of  the  rumors  of  peace.  Had 
they  been  false,  he  would  have  been  regarded  as  being 
very  " simple"  in  allowing  the  Nautilus  to  escape  his 
grasp.  When  the  rumors  of  peace  were  confirmed  he 
carefully  repaired  the  Nautilus  and  returned  her  to 
the  English.  The  Peacock  arrived  in  New  York  on  the 
30th  of  October,  having  secured  five  thousand  dollars 
in  specie,  besides  many  valuable  cargoes. 

In  the  autumn  of  1814  the  Government  fitted  out 
two  flying  squadrons  to  cruise  in  the  West  Indies. 
The  first  of  the  squadrons,  under  command  of  Captain 
Porter,  consisted  of  the  schooners  or  brigantines  Fire- 

1  C.  R.  Low's  History  of  the  Indian  Navy,  vol.  i,  p.  285. 


658  THE  BAST  INDIA  SQUADRON,  1815. 

fly  (flagship) ;  Spark,  Master-Commandant  Gamble ; 
Torch,  Master-Commandant  Chauncey ;  /Spitfire,  Cap 
tain  Cassin  ;  and  Flambeau,  Master-Commandant  J.  B. 
Nicholson.  The  second  squadron,  under  command  of 
Captain  Perry,  consisted  of  the  brigs  Boxer,  Lieutenant 
John  Porter ;  Saranac,  Lieutenant  Elton ;  Chippewa, 
Lieutenant  G.  Campbell  Read  ;  and  Escape  or  Prome 
theus,  Lieutenant  Joseph  J.  Mcholson.  The  squadron 
was  ordered  to  destroy  every  prize  that  fell  into  its 
hands,  and  not  to  attempt  to  bring  any  captures  into 
port  except  under  extraordinary  circumstances.  But 
the  war  terminated  before  the  vessels  could  put  to  sea, 
the  treaty  being  ratified  February  18,  1815. 

Commenting  on  the  Treaty  of  Ghent,  the  London 
Times  of  December  30,  1814,  says:  "We  have  retired 
from  the  combat  with  the  stripes  yet  bleeding  on  our 
backs.  Even  yet,  however,  if  we  could  but  close  the 
war  with  some  great  naval  triumph  the  reputation  of 
our  maritime  greatness  might  be  partially  restored. 
But  to  say  that  it  has  not  hitherto  suffered  in  the  esti 
mation  of  all  Europe,  and,  what  is  worse,  of  America 
herself,  is  to  belie  common  sense  and  universal  experi 
ence.  'Two  or  three  of  our  ships  have  struck  to  a 
force  vastly  inferior  ! '  JN"o  ;  not  two  or  three,  but  many 
on  the  ocean  and  whole  squadrons  on  the  lakes ;  and 
the  numbers  are  to  be  viewed  with  relation  to  the  com 
parative  magnitude  of  the  two  navies.  Scarcely  is  there 
an  American  ship  of  war  which  has  not  to  boast  a  vic 
tory  over  the  British  flag  ;  scarcely  one  British  ship  in 
thirty  or  forty  that  has  beaten  an  American.  With 
the  bravest  seamen  and  the  most  powerful  navy  in  the 
world,  we  retire  from  the  contest  when  the  balance  of 
defeat  is  so  heavy  against  us."  And  this  was  written 
before  the  Times  had  heard  of  the  capture  of  the  Cyane 
and  the  Levant  by  the  Constitution,  the  disabling  of 
the  Endymion  by  the  President,  or  the  brilliant  vic 
tory  of  the  Hornet  over  the  Penguin. 


APPENDIX. 


EEUBEN    JAMES. 

REUBEN  JAMES  was  a  typical  American  tar.  He 
was  born  in  Delaware,  entered  upon  a  sailor's  life  when 
a  boy,  was  captured  in  1797  by  a  French  privateer  and 
suffered  great  hardships.  On  his  liberation  he  shipped 
in  the  Constellation  in  1799,  and  was  in  the  battles  be 
tween  that  frigate  and  the  Insurgent  and  the  Ven 
geance.  In  1804  he  sailed  for  the  Mediterranean  in 
the  44-gun  frigate  United  States,  and  was  one  of  the 
iirst  to  volunteer  under  Lieutenant  Decatur  when  he 
destroyed  the  Philadelphia  in  the  harbor  of  Tripoli, 
and  he  remained  under  Decatur' s  command  in  all  the 
fierce  hand-to-hand  encounters  off  Tripoli.  When  he 
recovered  from  his  wounds,  Decatur  asked  him  what  he 
could  do  for  him.  At  that  time  Reuben  was  a  quarter 
gunner,  and  taking  off  his  hat  he  said,  after  a  pause : 
"Nothing,  sir,  but  to  let  somebody  else  hand  out  the 
hammocks  to  the  men  when  they  are  piped  down." 

He  followed  Decatur  from  the  Enterprise  to  the 
Constitution  and  to  the  Congress.  He  crossed  the  At 
lantic  in  a  gunboat  commanded  by  Master-Commandant 
James  Lawrence,  when  he  again  joined  his  old  com 
mander.  He  was  in  the  United  States  during  her  ac 
tion  with  the  Macedonian,  and  was  in  the  President 
when  she  was  captured  by  a  British  squadron  in  Jan 
uary,  1815,  on  which  occasion  he  was  three  times 
wounded  before  he  would  allow  himself  to  be  carried 
below.  He  followed  Decatur  to  the  Algerian  war  in 

(659) 


660  APPENDIX. 

1815,  and  was  in  the  new  44-gun  frigate  Guerriere  when 
she  captured  the  MasUouda  off  the  coast  of  Africa.  In 
the  long  peace  that  followed  he  was  constantly  cruis 
ing  in  United  States  vessels  in  the  Mediterranean,  the 
West  Indies  and  the  Pacific  Ocean,  and,  to  use  his  own 
expression,  he  had  seen  "  ten  fights  and  as  many  scrim 
mages."  In  the  autumn  of  1836  he  went  to  Washing 
ton  to  get  a  pension,  and  as  he  was  suffering  from  an 
old  musket-ball  wound,  his  limb  was  amputated  in 
order  to  save  his  life.  With  characteristic  indifference 
to  danger  or  suffering,  the  old  tar,  when  informed  that 
the  operation  was  about  to  be  performed,  merely  re 
marked  that  it  was  not  quite  ship-shape  to  put  him 
under  jury  masts  until  in  harbor,  and  the  day  after, 
when  his  symptoms  became  alarming,  his  only  request 
was  that  the  surgeon,  Dr.  Foltz,  should  "ease  him  off 
handsomely."  Reuben  was  a  heavy  drinker,  and  when 
it  became  necessary  to  administer  stimulants  he  was 
asked  whether  he  preferred  brown  stout  or  brandy 
toddy,  and  replied,  "Doctor,  suppose  you  give  me 
both."  But  Reuben's  time  had  not  come  yet.  He  sur 
vived  several  years,  although  his  body* was  riddled 
with  bullets  and  scarred  with  saber  cuts. 


END    OF   VOLUME    I. 


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